Heliotrope Architects creates secret room inside Seattle’s Cortina restaurant

Native studio Heliotrope Architects has designed an upscale Italian eatery in downtown Seattle with clear strains, varied tones of wooden and a secret room tucked behind a one-way mirror.

Cortina is positioned on the base of Two Union Sq., a outstanding workplace tower in downtown Seattle. The restaurant’s north-facing storefront, which stretches 100 toes (30metres), has massive home windows that usher in pure gentle whereas giving passers-by a glimpse of the inside.

Constructed with an L-shaped structure, the 7,000-square-foot (650-square-metre) restaurant has three distinct zones. The lobby and bar are located in a single leg, whereas booth-style seating and a secret eating room occupy the opposite. A lounge was positioned on the nook, the place the 2 legs meet.

Designed by native studio Heliotrope Architects, the restaurant is meant to have a peaceful and complex environment. All rooms have a extremely disciplined look, with strains which can be “crisp and clear”.

Heliotrope creates cedar-clad residence and studio in Seattle

“The structure exploits the very lengthy rooms through the use of a repetition of type and fixture to ascertain a rhythm to the design akin to a musical beat,” mentioned the studio.

The staff used impartial colors and earthy supplies, together with varied forms of wooden. White-panelled partitions are paired with pink oak ceilings. Underfoot, wide-plank flooring is made from white oak – a cloth used for decor as effectively.

“Detailing is easy however executed at a really excessive normal, specializing in the inherent great thing about the pure supplies and delicate shifts of sunshine and shadow throughout the finishes,” mentioned the studio.

The key eating room is accessed through a door that appears like a panelled wall. The covert area options darkish walnut panelling and seating for as much as to 40 friends. One facet of the room is lined with a one-way mirror, enabling friends to see out whereas blocking anybody from seeing inside.

The 63-foot (19-metre) bar – among the many longest within the metropolis – is confronted with granite and topped with wooden. Suspended overhead is a protracted row of black, cylindrical pendants by XAL Lighting. The thin fixtures ship gentle downward, illuminating diners’ cocktails and meals.

The eating areas function pale wood chairs by the Spanish furnishings model Andreu World, and disc-shaped sconces by Wealthy Good Prepared. Banquettes and cubicles are wrapped in clean, brown leather-based.

Within the lounge, banquettes are paired with small black tables and low clamshell chairs in a gray hue. Floating above is a chandelier made from vibrant, blown-glass orbs that add a touch of exuberance to an in any other case subdued area.

Based in 1999, Heliotrope Architects has accomplished a variety of tasks, from business tasks in city locales to fashionable dwellings within the forest. Different tasks by the agency embody a cedar-clad residence that encompasses a double-height artwork studio, a Japanese backyard and a wood soaking tub.

Pictures is by Haris Kenjar.