Isagi Restaurant

Taiwan

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Isagi Restaurant

Taiwan

Firm

Atelier S.U.P.E.R.B.

Type

Commercial › Retail

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2019

The present west district of Taichung is a popular artistic hub and tourist attraction of the city, with a vibrant culture of creative facilities such as art galleries, foreign cuisine and boutique shops. It centralises at the street grid of what was formerly known as the MAAG compound, one of the earliest communities established in the 1950s for the US army recreation club, as a relay stop during the war. What is unique about this area is the rich and yet forgotten history of both American and Japanese influence in architecture and street planning. As the land value of this area soars, rapid renewal and additions of the high-rise buildings fragmented the scale of the original street scape. There are only very few original MAAG compound buildings preserved, and clusters of the two storey duplexes are used mainly for small local businesses.

The space currently occupied by Isagi restaurant is one of the Japanese townhouse duplexes remaining in the area, facing the corner of Cunjhong Street and Jhongmei Street. Along Cunjhong street, the same duplexes are also occupied by several other restaurants. Each responds in their own way towards the original building. Formerly used as an artist’s studio, the existing building was painted in pale yellow and light green, spreading throughout the exterior walls and internal spaces. As this new restaurant becomes one of the occupiers in the life cycle of this building, we wish to bear this thought in our design, by not completely erasing the traces it has accumulated over time, and to avoid presenting the restaurant space in an entirely new language. Furthermore, we endeavor to seek for a harmonious conversation between the new and the obsolete. We believe this aligns with the owner’s pursuit of creating an innovative and wholesome Japanese catering experience by serving dishes of the chef's choice.

In terms of the floor plan layout, the service space of the restaurant is concealed at the back and runs at the same location vertically upstairs. It maximises the view towards the garden at the dining area. The original toilet and stairs were demolished. The reconfiguration of the new linear stairs divides the space more efficiently and enables the space to be fully utilised. The four new load-bearing walls at the ground floor not only partition the kitchen, the front serving and prep area, the private dining rooms, and at the same time serve as the structural reinforcement for the existing house. On the upper floor, the large north-facing private dining room can be separated into two small private dining rooms depending on the occasions. When opened, the door panels are stored at the spare space above the stairs, which also display the alteration of internal situations and external expressions of the private dining rooms. The dining space facing the west end is configured to accommodate mostly three to four guests, with the rear row seats embedded in slightly elevated wooden boxes. The boxed seats are almost like a gazebo encouraging the guests to look out to the garden. One of the toilets is placed under the stairs at the ground floor, and the other is placed at the end of the circulation at the upper floor. They are appropriately obscured from the dining space without interrupting the operation of the restaurant space.

Part of the garden fences double as retaining walls, on a planter bed along the wall bushes of camellia flourish. It filters out the noise of passing traffic and reinforces the tranquil dining experience. We kept the existing Chinese tallow tree at the corner and the mango tree on the north side. Together with three new additional green maple trees, we want the landscape to evoke the guests’ senses of seasonal changes. Under the large Chinese tallow tree the entry gate stands, medium-sized trees such as Jaboticaba and False Aralia direct the guests into the garden. The turning corners at the meandering footpath leading to the restaurant allow the guests to collect their thoughts along the passage. The idea was derived from the philosophy of the Japanese garden, “imaging the big from the small”. On the feature wall at the south side, the mirror-like stainless steel panels bring in the views of the elegant garden from the neighbours, creating a seamless visual extension of the landscape. The reflection pool outside of the window of the front serving table carries in the greenery and the light of glistening water. The stained, aged and chiseled concrete wall enriches the interior light and shadow that varies throughout the day.

The new window frames are deliberately offset from the external walls to make them seem lightly attached structurally. The sharp-edged metallic finish also aesthetically contrasts with the rawness of the exposed concrete walls. The key interior materials are plywood, cast iron, wood wool cement boards and exposed concrete walls. Numerous touches of the past on the walls are retained, such as the cement grout after the old tiles were stripped away and stains left by the paint. Some wall surfaces were sanded down in order to maintain a balance between preserving the old texture and the new space. Layered industrial grade plywood sheets were used in a portion of the ceilings. Mediating a cascading relationship between the original structure and the new space, as if it morphs into a new modular system measuring against the original, that deductively induces new perspectives between the present and past.

How a space preserves its memory is the proposition we gave ourselves in this old building. Let the light interpret the traces of the time, and let the growth of plants and the changes of the seasons nourish the texture of the space. Let us enjoy the taste and timeless beauty of the food at the walnut dining table and immerse in the scent of Taiwan Cypress.

Project Info

Name: Isagi Restaurant

Location: Taichung, Taiwan

Team credit: Atelier S.U.P.E.R.B.+ Chen-Tien Chu Architect

Photographer: Millspace & Workpaperpress

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Other Projects by Atelier S.U.P.E.R.B.

Sedimented ManufactureScape

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Isagi Restaurant

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Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team