A new seven thousand square foot restaurant building inspired by the forms of the prairie landscape around it in Dakota County, Minnesota, fifteen minutes south of downtown Minneapolis.
Landscape drawings and paintings of the prairie site were abstracted and then imagined as a wood interior clad in copper, also an abstraction of the archetypical regional midcentury lodges and roadhouses in the North Woods.
The site was rolling farmland and slices of deciduous forest and prairie. The form of the building emerged from a series of drawings, paintings and sculptures Jordan Mozer used to study and abstracting the landscape forms. Two undulating copper-clad buildings (nicknamed Josh and Jake, after the Owner’s sons) wrap around a terraced patio surrounded by evergreens, evoking a public exterior space suggestive of the north-woods weekend homes of Minnesota. Copper, mined nearby, was used to clad the roof and walls. The base of the building is local fieldstone.
The sculptural forms of the building give the restaurant drive-by street presence.
The building forms are like the landscape forms and as copper has developed a healthy patina, the natural color has become even more integrated with the landscape.
The design of the restaurant began with an efficient kitchen and seating plan that minimized waiter travel distance and maximized the number of seats and the flexibility. The plan is terraced, rolling like the landscape, allowing guests inside and outside to see one another.
The interior of Copper Bleu is inspired by the archetypical lodges and roadhouses throughout rural Minnesota. The interior is entirely surfaced in warm wood, softened with textiles and highlighted by glass. The ceiling is a twisting rhythm of glue-laminated Douglas fir beams and decking. Between the beams are chandeliers composed of perforated metal and 25,000 glowing glass tubes. The walls, like the ceiling decking, are composed of Douglas fir tongue and groove decking. Sunlight from the long garden window illuminates velvet seating in the terraced dining room. Finish materials are natural and designed to improve with age and patina. Seating, lights and hardware were designed and manufactured by Jordan Mozer and Associates Limited for Copper Bleu.
The building is set along the road and acts as a sculptural sign. Fenestration focuses views on an idyllic garden with berms and evergreens to isolate the guests from the view of streets and parking lots.
The materials for the project include copper, bronze, stone, Douglas fir lumber, quartz, Minnesota limestone and walnut.
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