Hasta La Ideas

A sprawling grid of timber cubes covers the ceiling of a restaurant in Singapore by designers Brewin Concepts.

The Fat Cow Restaurant is split into three equal sections, which comprise a bar and lounge, a dining counter and a set of five private dining rooms.

Diners enter the restaurant through a thick copper-covered door and approach each of the rooms through a curved corridor lined with illuminated glass blocks.

In the main dining room the wooden cubes evenly circulate overhead, while the grid extends more chaotically around the ceiling and walls of the lounge.

Randomly distributed light bulbs illuminate the timber cubes, which also provide the framework for shelves at the bar.

The restaurant occupies part of the ground floor of an 18-storey medical centre designed by Richard Meier – you can see more stories about the American architect here.

Restaurants filled with timber lattices have been popular in recent months on Dezeen – see our earlier stories about one with a woven net of bamboo across the ceiling and another with timber slats descending around the dining tables.

Here’s some more information from Brewin Concepts:

The Fat Cow Restaurant, Singapore

The layout of the restaurant is divided into 3 sections, the entry bar lounge, the private rooms, and the formal Shabu dining counter, each to have a capacity of 20 people. The main circulation spine is located along the curved edge of the restaurant, also the perimeter of the circular building plan.

This 12m long curved passage way is flanked by the existing glass brick wall on one side and a new curved wall on the other, with openings that lead to the respective 3 sections.

The exterior white 1m x 1m facade grid of the building inspired the internal three dimensional ceiling grid, present throughout the restaurant, broken into 50x50x50cm and 25x25x25cm cubes.

The grid provide lowered ceiling spaces that further enhance different areas in the restaurant, also serve as storage and display shelves in these areas.

The same grid pattern also inspired the movable partition screens in the private room area. Hung off a ceiling track system, the movable translucent screens provide flexibility to the 5 individual rooms to suit the space requirements for different size parties.

Type: Japanese bespoke beef restaurant
Size: 3000 Sq Ft
Location: Camden Medical Center by Richard Meier
Designer: Brewin Concepts