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Rare

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Comments
Innovation
Functionality
Creativity
Eco-Social Impact
Total
JURY VOTES
Restaurant
7.24
7.74
7.17
6.52
7.17
Arthur Guimarães
Arthur Guimarães Chief Executive Officer at Arthur Guimarães Architects
Great use of lighting, translucency...
8
9
7.5
7
7.88
Mark Eric Magno
Mark Eric Magno Principal at Aedas Interiors
7
7.5
7.5
6
7
Jessica Adkins
Jessica Adkins Brand Experience Design Lead Europe at M Moser Associates
7.5
8
7
6.5
7.25
Josse Popma
Josse Popma Partner at Popma ter Steege Architects
Nice layout, material application,...
7
9
8
6
7.5
Mariana Schimidt
Mariana Schimidt Founder at MNMA studio
8
8
6
6
7
Zizhao Li
Zizhao Li Cofounder and Chief Designer at DSC · Design
7.5
8
7.5
8.5
7.88
Pooja Shah-Mulani
Pooja Shah-Mulani Partner and Design Director at LW Design
7
8
7.5
7.5
7.5
Burton Baldridge
Burton Baldridge Founder at Baldridge Architects
Well detailed, well conceived, and...
8
9
8
7
8
Xuechen Chen
Xuechen Chen Architectural Designer at X.C Studio
The lighting is nicely designed, ad...
8
7.5
8
7
7.63
Serhii Makhno
Serhii Makhno Founder at MAKHNO Studio
7
8
8
7
7.5
Suvi Saloniemi
Suvi Saloniemi Head of Exhibitions at Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design Museum
6
6
6
5
5.75
Mike McGirr
Mike McGirr Managing Partner and Design Principal at red design
7.02
7.83
7.65
5
6.88
Anna Gitelman
Anna Gitelman Associate Professor at Suffolk University
6
7
6
5
6
Wenqing Zhou
Wenqing Zhou Founder at Add Culture & Creative Development
7
8
7
7
7.25
Katie Mitchell
Katie Mitchell Managing Director at Seen Studios
7
8
8
8
7.75
Harkaran Singh Boparai
Harkaran Singh Boparai Founder at Space 5
8
7.5
6
6
6.88
Yan Zhang
Yan Zhang Cofounder at say architects
7.23
7.13
7.13
6.71
7.05
Jianan Shan
Jianan Shan Cofounder at say architects
7.13
5.88
6.19
6.09
6.32
Designer
Client
Table 85
Floor area
525 ㎡
Completion
2024
Social Media
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Sanitary

A love affair between a New York cocktail bar and French brasserie, told in Dubai's vibrant gastronomy scene.
Combining the venues original raw concrete and hard surfaces with soft luxurious materials, the restaurant celebrates the buildings structure through the exposure of brutalist features, whilst softening and refining with plants and fabrics. Blush velvets and dramatic silver drapes come to play with walnut panelling and Rosso Levanto marble. The venue balances an arresting suspended bar as you enter, leading to an intimate dining area, private dining room and al fresco terrace.

Brief & Design Solution
Situated in City Walk, Dubai, the restaurant is a conversion of a clothing shop targeting affluent professionals and social butterflies. The space contained many brutalist features; vast glazing panels and concrete pillars, and an expansive 6m ceiling - all typically hidden and fabricated over by tenants. Sustainability was critical - using reclaimed and refurbished flooring, furniture and kitchen equipment from a venue the owners had recently closed. The space is dressed and divided with fabric panels and modular furniture to soften the rawness, dampen acoustics and avoid building waste.

Cultural Context
Dubai has a thriving gastronomy scene, with 2.3 x more restaurants per capita than London. The Emirate often use concrete, steel and glass to build. Not seeing the beauty of these structure, the vast concrete spaces are often marbled and panelled by tenants, then ripped out and replaced by the next creating a waste cycle. RARE wanted to replace the shiny and new, with authentic and real.