Oceans, a local and globally inspired seafood restaurant, debuted this fall at 233 Park Avenue South. Situated prominently near Union Square, Oceans was founded by Vancouver’s award-winning Toptable Group with the philosophy of creating a timeless and approachable dining experience. Rockwell Group designed two previous restaurants for Toptable in Vancouver: Elisa and Il Caminetto. Guests enter the restaurant on the corner of Park Avenue South and 19th Street, where we carved into the storefront to make an inverted entry and gracious outdoor vestibule. A custom, curved glass profile creates this grand entranceway, which features a decorative light fixture and creates a beacon on Park Avenue. The length of the restaurant is defined by six existing over scale window bays. Rockwell Group renovated the storefronts with completely custom profiles in solid wood, making them operable onto 19th Street and Park Ave, an elevated outdoor patio on 19th Street providing additional seasonal seating. Rockwell Group used the window bays—the formal delineation of the space—to create a strategy for the atmosphere of the dining room, focusing the most energy around the 30-foot-long bar and decreasing scale as the restaurant recedes. The restaurant’s main design element is the beautiful wood-rib ceiling, corresponding to our telescoping gesture and framing each discreet, but open, environment. The highly crafted herringbone, end-grain white oak ribs are tied on individually and morph into the flooring as well. Visual premium is placed on a large expo kitchen at the back of the dining room, providing an immersive dining experience for patrons. A raw fish display sits in front of the kitchen, with an adjacent blue tile sushi bar and a semi-private dining room grounded by a grand custom hex chandelier. A false wall conceals a secret private dining room featuring white oak millwork and a handmade alabaster pendant hanging over an 8-seat dining table. The hyper-curvaceous FFE includes marble bar tops and white oak banquettes with royal navy leather and blackened steel accents. A feature staircase escorts guests to the shared lower level PDR and wine cellar, a celebration of multi-style brick complimented by a series of wall-length backlit wine cabinets. The PDR can accommodate 50-60 and contains an intimate pre-function area for cocktails. Ideal for meetings, it is soundproof, outfitted with hanging wall art and LED screens.