KIM KIMCHI

Architects: balbek bureau \ Slava Balbek, Anna Kruglova, Olena Kruglova, Viktoriia SavchenkoProduct Designer: Serhii HavrylovProject Manager: Kateryna Karelshtein Project Area: 415 sq. m Project Year: 2020 Location: Kyiv, Ukraine Photo credits: Yevhenii Avramenko

ABOUT | CONCEPT | PROCESS | INTERIOR DESIGN | BRANDING | TEAM

ABOUT

Kim Kimchi is a Korean restaurant located in the Retroville shopping plaza in Kyiv. The worldwide success of Korean cuisine inspired our clients so much that they decided to bring it to Ukraine, opening a restaurant with that same authentic atmosphere in the capital. The restaurant spans 415 sq. m and seats 146 people. Here you can get a taste of kimchi, bulgogi, and japchae, made by the head chef invited especially from Korea. 

CONCEPT

We aimed to create a unique and contemporary space. Inspired by the atmosphere of Asian megalopolises, we placed the idea of the ‘urban jungle’ at the core of our concept. To convey this, we used characteristic elements and materials: silicate bricks, neon signs, marble paving, as well as infographics reminiscent of road markings on the restaurant’s floor.

The restaurant’s space is a complex form with floor-to-ceiling windows around its perimeter. Working with such a form presented both advantages and difficulties. On the one hand, the picturesque windows made the restaurant’s interior highly visible from all corners of the shopping plaza, which allowed us to attract diners into the restaurant easily. But on the other, it was a challenge to place the kitchen zone in a way that would highlight its best features yet conceal all the unsightly day-to-day processes that go on behind the scenes.

This is why we divided the restaurant’s main space into two principal areas: the dining area and a separate cube with an open kitchen. Along with our clients, we settled on this type of kitchen plan and faced it toward the dining area as well as the general direction of the shopping plaza. As a result, this transformed the cooking process into one of the restaurant’s  main attractions, all the while keeping the space open and airy, yet still conveying the atmosphere of a busy urban market. We located the entrances in a way that lets the main flow of customers enter via the atrium of the shopping plaza.