Ménard Dworkind Architecture & Design was tasked with making RYU Sushi Bar at YUL Airport a calming oasis for style and food amidst the stress of travel.

After exiting the stressful lines and x-ray machines at the security gates of Montreal’s Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport, you are immediately greeted by the warmth and tranquility of the RYÙ sushi restaurant.

The complex and repetitive pine ceiling structure instantly catches the eye of travelers. Mirrors installed on the back wall of the restaurant accentuate this repetitive effect giving the impression that the space is twice as deep. In the center of the space, an angular counter articulates around the kitchen block. Back-lit polycarbonate panels cover this block acting like a glowing lantern. Prep counters with under counter storage curve around the kitchen clad in blackened hot rolled steel. The sushi bar, treated like a stone monolith clad with ceppo di gre, has a grid pattern carved into it giving the effect of stacked bricks.

A long banquette in tan leather wraps around the dining room supported by curved metal legs that sit on the herringbone oak floor. Texture was added to the long wall of the restaurant with “Shikkui”, an ecological nontoxic Japanese lime plaster. Custom stools line the bar and were designed with a complex pivoting system where the stools rotate around the sleeve that supports both the backrest and footrest.

A long wall dedicated to retail and takeout food caters to the travelers pressed for time. The retail section is designed with a mix of recessed refrigerators and dry storage shelving and is bookended by a large screen showing daily specials to passersby. These shelves were custom designed with a structure of steel tubes that slide onto wooden dowels that protrude from a backlit polycarbonate wall. Folded steel shelves sit on this structure and a laser cut tabs display the items price.

Design: Ménard Dworkind Architecture & Design Photography: David Dworkind

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