Success by design: Restaurant environment just as crucial as good food, prompt service

Nation's Restaurant News, Dec 3, 2001 by Patricia Mueller

Restaurant design is more important to the foodservice industry than ever before.

As the working hours of Americans steadily have increased, so have the number of meals eaten outside the home. Dining often is the only repose in a given day for many individuals. Those consumers seek restful comfort and rejuvenating inspiration during their precious free time.

Great food and impeccable service no longer are the only key ingredients of a successful restaurant; a majestic environment is a must. Environments that invoke emotions -- the comforting home, the soothing spa, the tranquil river, the invigorating fresh air -- all are evident in today's restaurants.

Those unique atmospheres represent the culmination of a wide variety of contributors. Ordinary, everyday materials now are used in innovative ways. Concrete, formerly used for foundations to be hidden underground, now is formed into decorative bars and countertops. Raw steel, generally used for structural framing, now is shaped into room partitions and sculptures. Glass, commonly used for glazing, now is used to make decorative tiles and sinks.

Color is the single most powerful contributor to an environment. It no longer solely is dependent on the forecasts from the previous year and now is used unreservedly to create an aura of the architect's choice.

For instance, the Sugar Beat Cafe in downtown Denver is a new dining establishment that utilizes fresh colors and distinct materials to create a stimulating break in the day for its customers. The project's architect and builder sought to create a space that would welcome new guests and familiar faces alike. The decor is designed to say, "Come on in and sit awhile. "The saturated apricot and clean, green colors make even the gloomiest day a bright one.

Lighting is another key ingredient in the recipe for a unique dining environment. Once a necessity and a last consideration, it now is a feature. Technology has given us the ability to control and shape light, ultimately allowing the architect to orchestrate a symphony of candela.

Light fixtures now are available in all shapes, from diminutive sources that almost are imperceivable to fixtures that literally are works of art. Lighting no longer is consistent throughout any space except the kitchen. It is changed from room to room and wall to wall to affect the human senses.

The final contributor to those regal environments is the material that we feel and touch. Fabrics are available in increasing colors, patterns and textures. Fibers that once were not durable enough to withstand a few months of commercial use now are woven with synthetics to produce textiles with a resilience that resists wear even after years of use. Those pioneering yard goods have presented a host of opportunities to designers in the forms of synthetic mohairs, velvets, chenilles and silks.

In contemporary restaurant design, the architect assembles and directs those contributors in infinite ways to create the signature feel of the dining environment: the reprise to a weary customer's day or maybe the stimulation for an evening to remember. The chef is not the only artist in today's restaurants. The first artist went home long before the second arrived.

Patricia Mueller, AIA, is project architect for Buchanan Yonushewski Group, a 45 person, single-source architectural, construction and development firm. Buchanan Yonushewski Group's Denver office specializes in commercial, housing, retail, urban infill and adaptive reuse projects.