The
name of the restaurant, WOK, is quite simply an acronym for World Oriented
kitchen, but it also reveals the creative process behind this project.
Designed
by architect Daniela Colli and Luca Galliano of Colli-Galliano Architects, WOK
is based on the notion of a gastronomic contamination, it is a place where
clients can taste something away from traditional food, the restaurant offers
an international cuisine based on a mixture of fresh products, fluctuating between eastern and western
savours.
At
Wok’s customers can enjoy the rites of dining
out and have a nutritious lunch paired with a fast and friendly service,
sip a fragrant cup of tea or a glass of wine and chat over a plate of healthy
food, prepared according to the slogan “food power for your well being”.
Wok
is a philosophy and an atmosphere, a world of its own, it is exciting
contemporary style, from the overall interior design to the tiniest detail of
each object, reflects the positive atmosphere of the environment and conveys a completely new dining
experience.
The
restaurant stretches over two floors: on the ground floor visitors can sit for
a quick coffee, a snack or just for a break at a back-lit elongated counter, here
at lunch time they can also eat self-serve meals, this section merges with the
dining area, where individual tables overlook the street through a large front
window.
Behind
the counter a clear glass panel allows visitors to catch glimpses of the
kitchen and enjoy the preparation of food in large wok pans. One
of the designer’s initial concerns was how to cope with the long and narrow
layout of the room, the solution was the use of lit volumes, clear glass panels
and crystal surfaces that expand and maximize proportions, to enhance the
feeling of a continuous flow of space, concrete, treated with wax and special
resins, was used for all floorings, walls and ceilings.
Though
minimalist in design and proportions, the bar-counter is a real eye-catcher, it
is clad in back lit alabaster panels that glow in the dark and build a strong contrast to the clear crystal
show-cases that display drinks and snacks.
Vertical
surfaces curl up to form counter-ceilings, they look like floating with the
help of the light that wraps the volumes. Lightning ad graphics are the keys of
the intervention, as attention focuses on food recipes graphically sported on
the walls.
A
staircase leads to the mezzanine, its design is pure geometry and evokes the
profile of a pleated sheet of paper, it has a stainless steel structure
clad in wengé wood and crystal railings
that reflect the warm glow of groups of suspended lights, they hang from the
ceiling of the mezzanine at different heights like sculptural bodies, their
light expands down to the ground floor and out to the street, stressing the
urban location of the restaurant.
The
mezzanine not only enlarges the capacity of the restaurant, but also offers
glances of the animated street-life through large glazed windows, ceiling lamps
in different sizes, round and soft like a shoal of jelly-fish, illuminate this
section and draw the attention to structural details, such as the treatment of
the walls and ceilings that are coated with moon-concrete in a rich chocolate
colour mixed with gold powder.
A
treatment that fills the room with warm glows and reflexes, giving a cosy
atmosphere to the ambience.Custom-designed
tables made of thin layers of black glass are paired with “Tate Chairs” by Cappellini,
they add a touch of minimalist elegance to the restaurant and act as a perfect
backdrop for the main characters of the project: food and its traditions.