A boutique restaurant concept in Dubai that aimed to carve a niche into the UAE’s dynamic food & beverage scene; giving alternative and marginalised diets a centre stage.
As delicate as a jewellery shop, the architects have created a restaurant interior that defines a balance between elegance and comfort.
The architects, award winning design studio Binchy and Binchy, were briefed with one single, beautifully crafted word; ‘Menagerie’. Menagerie can mean an exotic or diverse collection of people or things, or a collection of like-minded people.
The architects created a communal table around a lively and vibrant open kitchen, the ‘Menagerie’, where people can sit together and enjoy watching their dishes being prepared.
Traditional Menagerie and Conservatory geometric aesthetics were foremost led by structure; the design based around a simple mathematical principles. With this in mind, Binchy and Binchy created an elegant single and double-cube structure. The pink tiled single-cube contains a live kitchen, on the opposite side, the architects used the green tiled double-cube structure for ready prepared dishes. The ceilings mirror the concept by translating the geometries of the vertical structures on the horizontal plane. The space was maximised by creating decorative shelving to hold merchandise.
Materials, colours and lighting were selected to harmonise and accentuate the colourful, balanced aesthetics of Menagerie’s dishes. The restaurant is open all day and this materiality, activated by lighting, softly changes the atmosphere from early morning coffee to intimate dinners within the same space.
On both side walls Binchy and Binchy designed oversized planter boxes, backed by antique mirror to reflect light back into the dining area. During the winter, the glass fronted restaurant opens up and the planting and tables extend across a tree-lined terrace. The Menagerie kitchen sits like a pavilion in this expanded landscape.
Material Used :
1. 41zero42 - grey floor tiles - Jumble Collection – locally supplied by TAF House Material
2. Etruria – green, grey and pink belevlled wall tiles – Victoria Diamantato collection – locally supplied by TAF House Material
3. Calacatta Oro – Bar surface – Marble – locally supplied
4. High back chairs – designed by Binchy and Binchy – custom made – fabric – Kvadrat – Steelcut Trio 2
5. Massproductions - Chairs and Tables – Tio Collection
6. Metalwork and shelving – designed by Binchy and Binchy – custom made
7. Fridges - Ginox
