Project/clients brief
Netsu Bar was conceived as a transformation of the former Lobby Lounge and Library at Mandarin Oriental Jumeirah into a dedicated arrival and bar experience to complement the existing Netsu restaurant. The client’s ambition was to heighten the sense of anticipation from the very first step, creating a recognisable, atmospheric threshold that announces Netsu not as an extension of the hotel corridor, but as a destination in its own right. Guests are meant to immediately encounter the energy, rhythm, and theatrical spirit of the restaurant, with a visible DJ vibrancy and movement into the space, setting the tone from the moment of arrival.
Concept
Building on Netsu Restaurants' “Theatre of Fire” and its references to Kabuki performance, LW Design developed a concept that invites guests behind the scenes. The journey unfolds as a transition: from the light-filled hotel lobby into an intimate, dimly lit corridor, beckoning guests through to a luminous canopy that cocooned them in the private world of performers preparing to step onto stage. This in-between realm serves as an immersive prologue to the dining experience, where rituals unfold, and anticipation builds before the curtain is raised.
Various design elements
At the heart of the room, the bar takes centre stage, climbing the wall and sweeping across the ceiling to form a luminous installation that performs as much as it displays. Juxtaposing the clean geometry of the bar, soft, deep red velvet curtains cloak the walls, their folds theatrically gathered and pinned with oversized tassels, revealing bespoke graffiti by Enforce One. The graffiti artwork showcases the Kabuki characters mid-transformation, as they apply their masks for the imminent performance, giving the guest a glimpse of a private, calm moment before the show.
Japanese Sake bottles are displayed as both collection and ornamental, nestled in their golden niches, an amber-lit archive arranged with ceremonial precision. The bar front is reminiscent of traditional sake barrels through woven textured materials and raw-edge timber, introducing a tactile, rustic counterpoint to the gleaming canopy behind.
About the execution
The execution focused on creating a seamless emotional progression rather than simply a spatial reconfiguration. Lighting, acoustics, and materiality all came into play in order to create a layered experience, carefully compressing and releasing the guest journey, heightening the contrast between the open, light-drenched hotel lobby and the intimate world of Netsu Bar. Custom elements, from the sculptural bar to the bespoke artworks, were developed to ensure the space felt curated and experiential rather than purely decorative.
About the ambience
Edgy yet intimate, the bar is intentionally moody. It is a place of high energy, textured shadows, and subtle theatricality. The atmosphere carries a sense of anticipation, a charged calm before the performance, offering guests a moment to gather, connect, and indulge before continuing into the theatre of the main dining room.
Challenges overcome
The primary challenge lay in transforming a previously open, light-filled lounge into a distinctly nocturnal and intimate world without severing it from the broader hotel flow. Achieving visual intrigue, acoustic comfort, and operational clarity within a relatively compact footprint required a high degree of spatial discipline, ensuring that the bar felt both immersive whilst still allowing guests privacy and comfort from the point of arrival.
Unique / key features
Rather than treating the bar as a standalone entity, LW Design shaped it as a narrative device to enhance Netsu’s distinctive identity. The enveloping curtains, the performative bar, and the behind-the-scenes Kabuki artworks work together to create a layered storytelling environment that extends and amplifies the restaurant’s original concept.
Technical elements
Technically, the project integrates bespoke joinery, specialist lighting design to accentuate depth and material contrast, and ceiling treatments incorporating smoky grey mirror to heighten atmosphere without overwhelming the room's intimacy. Bar display systems, DJ integration, and acoustic considerations were coordinated to support both visual theatre and functional performance.
Material selection
Deep red velvet curtains cloak the walls, paired with warm timber flooring underfoot and smoky grey mirrored ceilings overhead. The back bar is finished in golden hues, contrasted by the raw-edge timber bar top and Naturtex woven jute and leather panels forming the bar front. Together, these materials establish a dialogue between refinement and rawness, polish and craft, echoing the grit and beauty of the Kabuki characters.
Furniture chosen
The furniture reinforces this charged, performance atmosphere, carefully selected for comfort and intimacy with subtle nods to Japanese detailing. Soft leather armchairs, interlaced textured natural fabrics, and tactile finishes are layered throughout, punctuated by restrained accents of colour. Beautifully crafted woven-leather chair backs and raw, smoked, carved timber table bases reinforce the space’s poised balance of elegance and drama.
Team:
Architects: LW Design
Contractors: Claramont Contracting
Designers: Pooja Shah-Mulani, Brodie Kane
Photographer: Ingrid Rasmussen
