We researched the quilted or patchworked quality of Korean Pojagi, the coarse, chunky quality of handworked clay, and the long tradition of Japanese joinery. We responded to the existing angles in the space: sharp site lines and the flow of air and light. We chose to reorient the entry through the back of the building, embracing a narrative of secret gardens and hidden entries. The new bar and subsequent partial height ‘walls’ contrast with the industrial building and create pockets of architecture where privacy and compression occurs.

Through the studio’s current experiments with multi-species of wood, we settled on Douglas Fir and American Walnut millwork enveloping the dining room at a height of a Thirds proportion, speaking to the project’s name and respecting the factory bones. Anchoring the front of the room and nodding to the heft of the site is a custom fabricated concrete and encaustic tile bar in jade green and warm American Walnut. The color palette was dictated by nature in tones of green — leaf, citron, moss — to allow JT Vuong’s colorful and dynamic food to take center attention.” LD

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIK MEDSKER, GARY LANDSMAN