Bar 89

89, Mercer Street, Manhattan, New York, NY, United States

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Bar 89

89, Mercer Street, Manhattan, New York, NY, United States

Firm

Type

Hospitality + Sport › Restaurant

YEAR

1995

SIZE

3000 sqft - 5000 sqft

* JAMES BEARD OUTSTANDING AWARD
* NEW YORK LANDMARKS PRESERVTION COMMISSION AWARD

Set within the Historic Cast Iron District of Soho, this two-story
modern building was designed to house a bar and restaurant. The site
consisted of a narrow 25’ x 100’ vacant parking lot flanked by 6 story
landmarked buildings on both sides.

Bar 89 consists of a simple double story space, 26’ tall punctuated by a
series of distinct architectural objects: Façade/Entrance, Bar, Skylight,
stair, and Lounge. Each element is related to each other and to the
building as a whole by upon a common geometry, materials and an
attention to details.

Bar 89’s façade is an important visual element from the inside as well as
from the outside. The steel and glass façade is meant to be a modern
counterpart to the neighboring cast iron buildings. The transparency of
the façade allows the passerby on the street to view and be drawn in. In
the bar, the façade gives an unimpeded view of the street, borrowing the
cast iron buildings façade across the street as to serve a backdrop to the
pedestrians looking in.

This back and forth visual dialogue is repeated several times in the
design of the bar. As one moves up or down the gently curved stair, or
in the unisex lounge where the bathroom stall doors are completely
transparent. The doors are intended to create a “sexual tension” - a
specific request from the owner.

Each glass door individually turns translucent when engaged from
within. The doors are made from a liquid crystal interlayer sandwiched
between two planes of glass. They are activated by a low voltage
electric circuit.

As a modern insertion within the historical neighborhood of Soho,
Bar 89, through vision and light, reflects on the transitions between old
and new, interior and exterior, and transparency and translucency.