العربيةREMI Restaurant / Ester Bruzkus Architekten
For the new Berlin-Mitte restaurant REMI, designed by Ester Bruzkus Architekten, chefs Lode van Zuylen and Stijn Remi determined a design that is of the highest quality, with materials sourced and crafted with considerable attention to detail. This same precision is also reflected in the chefs’ approach to food, resulting in an unparalleled synergy between the two parties. The design of REMI emphasizes simplicity and quality with the aim of providing customers with an enjoyable, unfussy, and authentic dining experience.
At the center of the space is the open kitchen – surrounded by materials working together like diverse ingredients for a good meal: unfinished perforated aluminum, rough stucco, red-colored MDF cabinetry, transparent lacquered birch, pale blue curtains, stainless steel, and a natural deep red granite that combines all the colors used in REMI. The volumes that make up the kitchen are framed by overhead rings of lighting, enhancing and unifying the clean and transparent design.
The detailing reveals the inherent qualities of the materials – what they look like in cross-section, their thickness and depth, and how the different materials make outside corners. The best example of this material approach is how the red-colored MDF is used – the color is not applied to the surface but all the interior fibers are stained – so when it is cut, it reveals its interior like a stick of butter.
The design takes advantage of the best attributes of the site on the ground floor of the new Suhrkamp Verlag building by Bundschuh Architekten. An important goal of the design was to retain the feeling of openness that comes from the highly exposed concrete ceilings and the expansive glass fronts on either side of the restaurant. A triangular welcome desk resolves the complicated geometry of the site so that the dining areas have a placid atmosphere.
The dining area furniture, provided by Studio Coucou, combines custom-made tables in fine plywood, polished steel, and Forbo linoleum with chairs by Please Wait To Be Seated, custom wood banquettes upholstered with corduroy fabric by Kvadrat and lighting by Valerie Objects. The large overhead rings of light were designed by Ester Bruzkus Architekten.
The design for REMI shows the parallels between good design and a modern dining experience. By treating architectural materials with the same approach as the chefs approach the meal, Ester Bruzkus Architekten has created a restaurant for chefs Lode van Zuylen and Stijn Remi that is bright, carefully detailed, and made from architectural materials that come together like a well-crafted meal.
