2014 BOY Winner: Bar/Lounge
Great watering holes are a merry refuge for tortured souls, according to expat mixologist Logan Brouse. As his adopted city’s self-appointed Pied Piper of punch—to say nothing of rosemary gin-and-tonics—he can probably be trusted as an authority on the subject. And his bar by Interior Design Hall of Fame members Lyndon Neri and Rossana Hu has been attracting crowds, thanks to bottomless bowls of fruity elixirs served in a 1,700-square-foot colonial lane house spiked, architecturally, by new industrial elements.
Copper mesh is draped across the ceiling, while nostalgic Edison bulb pendant fixtures dangle below. Opposite the hostess station, wire glass partly veils electrical equipment. Rectangular voids were roughly chopped out of the old timber frame in the Gordon Matta-Clark mode. Above wooden banquettes with slim black cushions, wall coverings sport a mod diamond pattern that seems slightly faded. It’s a play on history and patina, artfully installed in the name of fun.
Project Team: Dirk Weiblen; Anqing Zhu; Harry Thomson; Christine Neri; Evelyn Chiu; Brian Lo; Jean-Philippe Bonzon.