“Nami,” meaning “wave” in Japanese, offers an extraordinary dining experience that seamlessly blends culinary artistry with dramatic design. Located within Lake Nona’s Wave Hotel, this intimate restaurant captivates guests from the moment they arrive. The atmosphere is immersive, featuring dim lighting, curated sound, and authentic materials that heighten the senses and enrich the flavors on the plate.
The design of Nami invites guests on a journey, beginning with a tranquil reception area where they are greeted by a host. They then pass through an oversized, pivoting panel that reveals the vibrant dining space, adorned with delicate gold leaf, red-grained woods, and silky Japanese Maple trees. Ethereal murals by Dean Barger provide a striking backdrop, embodying the storytelling tradition revered in Japanese culture.
This transportive design is fundamental to Nami’s success, fostering a sense of escape from reality. Every detail is crafted to evoke the feeling of being anywhere in the world. The windowless environment enhances this immersion, creating a unique atmosphere that draws affluent guests seeking an exceptional dining experience. The concurrent development of the concept and design with the client ensured a cohesive vision, resulting in a sophisticated offering that stands out in Lake Nona and Orlando’s competitive culinary landscape.
The Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman project site is in the Seven Mile Beach area of Grand Cayman Island, a popular destination for both locals and tourists. Although our site is not directly on the water, our primary challenge was to establish a strong connection to the beach.
To achieve this, we elevated the main public areas to create a visual link to the ocean. This level features a detached Lobby Pavilion with a butterfly roof, offering guests panoramic views of the Caribbean during check-in. By raising the second level, we also create a sense of separation from the street and adjacent public park, making the pool and pool deck feel like a private retreat.
The pool itself is divided by a pedestrian bridge, separating the family pool from the adult pool. The adult pool, with its infinity edge, creates the illusion that the water extends to the horizon.
The hotel features 282 guestrooms, all strategically oriented to offer views of either the Caribbean Sea or Governor’s Bay to the east. A key highlight of the hotel is the 3,000-square-foot Roof Bar and terrace, which provides panoramic views of both the sea and the bay. It is the premier spot on the island for enjoying a drink and watching the sunset.
The renovation of Old Hickory Steakhouse at Gaylord Palms is a transformation that redefines upscale dining by adding architectural sophistication to a previously themed and disjointed venue. Spanning 10,000 square feet, this redesign transforms the restaurant into an elegant series of spaces, where the traditional boundaries between indoor luxury and outdoor tranquility blend seamlessly. Previously the venue was composed of separate buildings that felt disconnected from each other and lacked an association to their surroundings. By providing more connectivity through added dining terraces, strategically creating generous wall openings, adding floor-to-ceiling windows, and overhauling the color palette, the restaurant transformed into a cohesive experience, where guests feel nestled in a lush marsh-style landscape.
The heart of the renovated venue is its state-of-the-art exposition kitchen. This culinary showcase is designed to highlight the art of gastronomy, with open displays featuring a curated selection of wine, cheese, charcuterie, dry-aged steaks and views of chefs as they are fully immersed in their craft. This transparent approach not only engages the senses but also enhances the dining experience by making the culinary process an integral part of the ambiance.
The design palette of weathered wood, complemented by soothing green and blue tones, reflects the natural hues of the local Floridian marsh environment, creating a serene atmosphere. The renovation also introduces a private dining room and a 12-seat bar and terrace, providing versatile spaces for a variety of gatherings. Overall, the renovation elevates Old Hickory Steakhouse, merging luxury with a deep, immersive connection to its natural setting.
Predalina is a restaurant that explores Mediterranean cuisine and design from a contemporary perspective. Located in the Water Street neighborhood of Tampa, Florida, the project involved a tenant fit-out of a shell space in the newly developed Cora apartment building at 1011 East Cumberland Avenue. The restaurant is composed of a large dining room, a lounge area that can be used for private events, a bar, two exterior dining spaces, a small retail area, and a commercial kitchen. The 6,800 square foot space was composed of four shell spaces that were combined into one, allowing for a space with three street frontages.
From the project’s inception, a focus on customer experience was paramount. Classic and natural materials (plaster, wood, brass, stone) were selected with the assumption that they would be timeless, while developing a patina with age. Referencing Mediterranean architecture, the arch is a motif that is repeated throughout the space, from the barrel vault over the main dining room to the banquettes in the bar and the walls separating the bar from the lounge area and retail space. Contemporary floor to ceiling glazing allows customers to observe the surrounding neighborhood while allowing passers-by to observe the interior space. Exterior spaces take advantage of the local climate, with custom-fabricated concrete planters and seating that create designated outdoor dining spaces adjacent to the public right-of-way.
Predalina is the result of blending classical and contemporary, a space that is designed to weather with time.
In 2018, Chicago-native Chef Chuck Woods decided to relocate to Atlanta with his partner and Mixologist, Barb Vickers. They were eager to incorporate classic southern favorites alongside their northern culinary prowess into their new endeavor.
The name Falling Rabbit gave inspiration for a whimsical, elevated dining experience that pulls references from “Through the Looking Glass”. Deep wood tones, vibrant blues, brass accents, and a variation of textures come together to create a different world within, the kind of place where one could linger for hours and feel at home. The incorporation of artwork was a design driver from the start, ensuring every piece was thoughtfully curated for the space where it lives. The art and all the other details in this project correlate directly to the overarching theme – every decision was made with that in mind.
The two-story structure weaves in vignettes of natural light, rich textures, and color, all while providing playful moments in design for patrons to discover and enjoy. Colorful glazing wrapped in picture frames hidden amongst art on a gallery wall offers visitors the ability to experience the energy and artwork of the kitchen beyond. Exposing the original stone walls adjacent to smoothly finished custom walnut and brass screens provides a playful juxtaposition of old and new finishes, and custom-designed furniture adds a lush touch of comfort and ambiance.
Nestled inside Falls Park, The Grand Bohemian Lodge offers direct access to Reedy River, while paying homage to the spirit of Greenville and the indigenous people that once lived there. The design team was inspired by time-honored reputation of national park architecture, romanticized in the era of Roosevelt and The New Deal. The design celebrates natural materials, including cedar, other hard woods, and locally sourced stone. Geodes and jade-colored accents add pops of color to the rustic, yet sophisticated interior. Guests are immersed in the history of the area, as paintings and sculptures depicting everyday Native American life are placed throughout the property. Similarly, a wall feature of stone arrowheads is found near the event space. To provide site lines to the falls and towering trees, many guestrooms were placed below the lobby level to provide instant access, while others feature terraces to provide an indoor-outdoor connection. The Grand Bohemian Lodge truly re-imagines a luxury experience and helps visitors and residents re-connect with the region’s history and natural wonders.
Located on the corner of Atlanta’s busiest intersection is a highly coveted Persian eatery. Once inside, guests are greeted by a Persian-inspired design with subtle details and references. Inspiration was drawn from whirling dervishes, Persian calligraphy, and old-world architecture. Traditional colors of red and Persian blue are used throughout to imbue the history of the cuisine. Hand-applied plaster wall finish gives the space an authentic old-world sensibility. A large, swirling chandelier made of bronze metal chain is featured in the entry, creating playful dances of light and shadow on the wall that mimic the movement of whirling dervishes.
The design challenge for this project was to enclose an existing 3,000-square-foot exterior terrace to create an indoor/ outdoor extension of the luxury hotel’s existing restaurant as part of this iconic Atlanta hotel’s multimillion-dollar renovation. The desire was for the space to be used year-round with operable windows and doors to fully open during nice weather. The result is a unique, romantic conservatory space with an arched glass-and-steel enclosure, including operable sliding windows surrounding the perimeter to effectively blur the lines of an indoor/outdoor experience. The new space includes a whimsical oval bar with an artistic up lit tree anchoring the back bar. Lounge and dining seating is cleverly scattered throughout the tree cover.
The design was inspired by the hotel’s legacy of luxury, the opulence of Buckhead and Atlanta’s moniker of being a city in a forest. The Garden Room’s design marries a modern, maximalist approach, with a lush greenhouse of whimsical plants and artforms, such as two poodles made of moss, an antique wooden horse, and a glass DJ booth for late-night soirées. Everything about The Garden Room is fantastical including the abundance of florals, decorative fringe on settees, lanterns in the trees and striking colors. The result is an over-the-top experience that provides a must-see destination for locals and travelers alike.
