The Grand Blue Express is a luxury aquarium dining restaurant in Ueno, Tokyo. The renovated space takes place inside a mixed used building with a floor area no larger than 95sqm. Inspired by luxury trains, the design tries to overcome the small space limitations to both accommodate the aquariums and provide the luxurious atmosphere the restaurant aims to implement. The dining room takes the form of a corridor coach that serves the individual cabins on both sides. each cabin is equipped with its aquarium installed to mimic the train windows, creating the impression to be inside a train cruising underwater.
The restaurant is located on the 5th floor of the building and is accessible through an elevator that opens to a small welcoming hall. At the corner a circular shaped sofa. Then the corridor along the space serving the cabins on both sides. on the left, four two-seaters’ cabins and on the right four other four-seaters’ cabins. At the end of the corridor the VIP cabin. The kitchen is accessed on both extremities of the corridor on the right side.
The aquariums are surrounded by steel frames with a golden baked painting finish that mimic cruiser trains’ windows. On the top of the frame another rounded steel panel that allows access to the aquariums for maintenance purposes. The corridor ceiling is covered in special stainless panels that imitates water waves enhancing the underwater cruising train impression created by the space.