Nobu Garden is a renovation of a previous laundromat into a restaurant and garden. It aimed at creating harmonious transitions between neighboring Nobu Hotel and an adjacent historic storefront in downtown Palo Alto, as well as a place of respite in the urban environment.

The intent was to carve open space into the city, but to also balance this and retain the character and volume of the urban environment from the street. At the street-front entrance to the garden, a large display window framed by limestone columns peers into the open garden and dining areas. A decorative, bronze element inspired by the Japanese Shoji Screen creates a sense of arrival and variation to the recessed entrance, while façade plantings and a subtly lit garden offer a tranquil experience.

The design focus became to make the dining experience as much about the garden and feeling connected to the outdoors as possible. This meant skylights that became a full glass roof, and a fully retractable glass wall system that opened to the garden. The lush garden space is designed to improve air quality, support pollinators and mitigate urban heat island effect. The structure is afforded natural ventilation through bi-fold doors that retract along the entire frontage and gravity ventilators. Retractable fabric coverings shelter the exterior dining areas from sun and rain. Shallow retention basins in the garden percolate storm water through the soil avoiding excess discharge to the street. Hot water and a radiant floor for the indoor dining room is supplied by solar-heated hot water coils on the roof.

The lush garden space is designed to improve air quality, support pollinators and mitigate urban heat island effect. The structure is afforded natural ventilation through bi-fold doors that retract along the entire frontage and gravity ventilators. Retractable fabric coverings shelter the exterior dining areas from sun and rain. Shallow retention basins in the garden percolate storm water through the soil avoiding excess discharge to the street. Hot water and a radiant floor for the indoor dining room is supplied by solar-heated hot water coils on the roof.

Heat recovery from the commercial kitchen was deeply explored and while ultimately it did not yield enough heat generation due to the reduced kitchen size, solar-thermal panels, heat pump systems and radiant flooring, as well as walls with high thermal mass inside the building help minimize demand from grid sources relative to the typical restaurant.