Richard Turlington Architects Inc.

Scope Of Work

Richard Turlington Architects, based in New Haven CT, has experience with life, culture and work in Southeast Asia, we were quickly selected as the most experienced architect by the owner.  This was an opportunity to holistically introduce a unique cuisine to the people of Yale University and the City of New Haven. This is a small restaurant project owned by a native Burmese.  

The design story of this project starts with displaying the life of the owner and his journey that landed him on the other side of the world.  To do this Richard Turlington Architects created interior designs that placed a spatial focus on creating a unique dining experience that introduced bamboo, an overhead tree canopy, wood floors, raw steel connections, and “food carts” along the service line; all the elements that the Owner is surrounded with in his home country of Myanmar.  The haphazard display of food stations spoke to street vendors in Asia offering different flavors of food.  Since bamboo is the fastest growing grass it is the most residential building material and was used for defining dining areas in his restaurant.  The ceiling above included panelized areas of a resin-based clear panel that were infused with translucent leafs.  We lit these panels with a soft LED lights from above, casting a forest of leafs onto the floors and counters within the dining and sales area.  The cabinetry was a flush overlay, cleanly detailed, clear finished maple combined with aged copper sheeting giving an overall homage to life on the streets in a rough area of the world.

The resulting design will be a restaurant that combines a diverse and special menu with a matching spatial experience that celebrates the life of man impassioned by food and sharing it others.