Helmed by owner Billy Van Dolsen, Sereneco is a warm and relaxed neighborhood restaurant located on the ground floor of Greenpoint, Brooklyn’s historic Pencil Factory building. Our Client, Billy Van Dolsen (who was a dream to work with) had descriptions for how he wanted the space to feel, but without specific ideas or set limitations. As a design studio, this is our favorite way to work since it allows us to influence the overall design concept. As both the architect and designer on most projects, our work starts first and therefore tends to reverberate through the entire project.

▼空间概览，overall view of the space ©Nicole Franzen

Billy was originally looking at a different space in Manhattan – our design kick off meeting for that location was March 9, 2020 so we all had to pivot shortly thereafter – the Manhattan space and location would have resulted in a completely different design concept. We took a lot of cues for Sereneco from the existing raw space and the Greenpoint location.

Our design agenda was to create a space that makes people feel great, but ultimately talk about the food more than the design. As a studio, we like to work very intuitively and I think we achieved a space that feels like a reflection of Billy himself; incredibly thoughtful, yet understated. We didn’t even know that Billy was a Sommelier until reading his press kit and that perfectly sums up his personality.

▼低调而温馨的空间，understated and warm space ©Nicole Franzen