The redesign of Eleven Madison Park encompasses the entire restaurant, from overall spatial concepts and interior design details to the creation of custom furniture, tableware, and textiles. Developed in close collaboration with restaurateur Will Guidara and Chef Daniel Humm, the restaurant’s co-owners, the redesign preserves the character and enhances beauty of the original design of the room, once the lobby of the landmark Metropolitan Life building, to create a complete sensory experience that celebrates the ritual of dining at every level.
Custom designs in warm palettes and textures, inspired by the building’s Art Deco legacy and the natural beauty of Madison Square Park, enhance the restaurant throughout. The room’s central promenade features two raised dining levels, defined by new, elegant decorative screens. Upholding the restaurant’s focus on ease and comfort, newly designed banquettes line the restaurant walls in intimate suites for two or four. A reimagined bar allows guests to enjoy craft cocktails and dinner in a space that is open to the dining room but defined by a distinct character, colors, and materials. The restaurant will also feature new commissions by leading contemporary artists.
Allied Works created bespoke designs for Eleven Madison Park that are inspired by the great Art Deco interiors of the 1930s, and interpreted from leaf motifs native to the neighboring Madison Square Park. Custom furnishings, textiles and tabletops find expression through a material palette of warm wood, leather, mohair, velvet, bronze and celadon.
Custom furniture and tableware designs include:
• 18-piece tableware suite (raw porcelain and white glaze)
• Dining tables (custom-cut white bronze pedestals)
• Banquettes (mohair on milled walnut structural frames)
• Dining chairs (velvet, leather on stained walnut frames)
• Club chairs (mohair, leather on stained walnut frame)
• Decorative screens (bronze)
• Area Rugs (custom wool and silk, hand knotted)
• Host stand (custom-stained white oak, solid wood)
• Bar stools and bar banquettes (leather on milled walnut structural frames)
• Bar tabletop (marble stone, custom-stained white oak)
• Service credenza (custom-stained white oak, solid wood)
Architect
Allied Works Architecture
Allied Works Project Team
Brad Cloepfil, Founder and Principal
Thea von Geldern, Yuri Suzuki, Chris Stoddard, Rachel Massey, Markus von Dellingshausen, Rebecca Wood, Luke Anderson, Xuancheng Zhu
Restaurant Leadership
Daniel Humm, Chef and Co-Owner
Will Guidara, Restaurateur and Co-Owner
Project Partners
General Contractor: Shawmut Design and Construction
Structural Engineers: Silman
MEP: BuroHappold
Kitchen: Jacobs Doland Beer
Lighting: HLB Lighting Design
Furniture and Tableware Manufacturers:
Mudshark Studios (tableware)
Dutch Design Limited and Valley Design (service credenzas and tables)
Design statement by Brad Cloepfil, Principal, Allied Works Architecture
Our challenge on this project was twofold: first, to reinforce the beauty and grace of the historic room in the Eleven Madison building, which is truly one of the great dining rooms in New York City. Second, but foremost in our minds, we wanted to set the stage for what is now the best restaurant in the world. We strove to create a new context, through furnishings and tableware, specifically for Chef Daniel Humm’s cuisine. In reconsidering the room itself, our focus was to amplify the particular hospitality and service that Will Guidara and his staff extend to their clientele.
To achieve these goals, we drew inspiration from Madison Square Park, conveying the quality and color of light, the textures and patterns of foliage, the shifts of form, line and shadow through the seasons. We strengthened the connection to the park with new mirrored windows to the private dining room that reflect the trees and lights of the city. We interpreted the patterns of leaf veining in the rugs, screens and centerpieces. The color palette we employed recalls the great Art Deco buildings in the city. The furnishings are rich in texture and contemporary in form. They are, above all, inviting. The dinnerware is spare and elegant - a canvas awaiting the artistry of Chef Humm.
We created a space that builds anticipation, exudes a sense of invitation and welcome for one to come together with friends and associates. A space that creates time in its calm, color and craftsmanship – time to sit and enjoy one of the world’s most extraordinary dining experiences.
The sense of the space, the particular atmosphere in this calm and elemental dining room is a touchpoint. We considered its place in the great restaurants and dining rooms throughout the history of New York – reinterpreted for the culture of fine dining today - with a pragmatism and restraint that is inspired by Chef Daniel’s food and history. The room itself is a room for both art and theater, a commitment of time and intention.