AMA 餐厅丨加拿大温哥华丨&Daughters

Designer：&Daughters

Location：Vancouver, BC, Canada; | ;View Map

Project Year：2023

Category：Bars;Restaurants

The cinematic dining setting created by Canadian designers &Daughters, harnesses a post-apocalyptic golden haze from a scene out of Denis Villeneuve’s futuristic Bladerunner 2049. 

Its name, reflected in the food and beverage concept, refers to Japanese female cold water divers who harvest seafood and pearls, a tradition practiced for two millenia according to lore.

Housed within a conventional two-storey 1970s Vancouver walk-up, the 52-seat restaurant is largely obscured from the street. Easily missable, a sign fabricated from horizontal sheet metal casts the restaurant’s name in shadow onto the exterior white wall, remaining largely concealed until the light above is turned on. A discreet coral red cage door leads guests up a long stairwell and transports them into a sensuous, atmospheric room enveloped in a burnt orange glow reminiscent of a neo-noir film.  

Two previously existing windows on the west wall are sealed off to remove any possibility of natural light seeping in. A cove cut out of the bulkhead follows the majority of the perimeter wall and behaves as the primary light source. The absolute control of luminosity through indirect, diffused light emulates a sense of suspended time. 

Venetian plaster walls and velvet curtains on vertical perimeter surfaces are cloaked in orange and juxtaposed by black accents seen on the bar and table tops, velvet banquettes, vinyl flooring and metal rail. Reflective materials such as semi-transparent golden mirrors and a glossy bar surface play with light, inducing a gentle psychedelia.

At center stage, a square U-shaped bar is topped with polished black granite and becomes the locus for culinary performance where sushi and cocktails are crafted. The ends of the bar are flanked by two large pillars which frame the backlit shelves of sake bottles and other spirits, spanning the entire west wall.  

Rectilinear cutouts, volumes and voids reaffirm the symmetry of space. As the bulkhead runs along the perimeter walls, it becomes a datum into which banquette seating, a coat check, a wine wall and decanter station, the back bar and a waiting bench are integrated. These programs along with the back of house area and the washrooms determine the room’s composition and encourage a natural flow. Unequivocally entrancing, guests are immersed into a fantasy world that becomes attainable beyond the movies.

Architects: &Daughters

Photography: Ema Peter Photography 

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