Luchetti Krelle have reached the shortlist for The International Hotel and Property Awards 2013 (Restaurant Award) with a contemporary dining destination, boasting interesting historic links….

Design Brief: Fat Noodle is Echo Entertainment’s latest dining destination featuring head chef Luke Nguyen. Situated in a prominent corner position within the historic Treasury Building, the brief was to demonstrate the ‘heritage’ of the food offered across many Asian cuisines and to celebrate the relationship between colonial architecture and Asian cultures.

Favourite/Key aspect of the project: A balance had to be found between the elegance and grand proportions of the historic building and the fantastic buzz of Asian hawker’s markets, as a tribute to the sensational food culture of the whole Asia region. The intricate details of the space demanded a level of sophistication in the design. From there, the space was layered with modern twists and turns on iconic Asian artefacts and symbolism with references to eating utensils, stories of mythical creatures from the ‘Forbidden City’, a lucky coin and even Confucius’s ancient game of Mahjong.

The bar front takes on the form of an ancient scroll unravelling whilst a new basket-weave parquetry floor referencing Asian steam baskets respects the traditional flooring of a heritage building.

With dual entrances to the restaurant, a street presence was required to catch the eye of the pedestrian traffic out on the street as well as those who are already within the casino. Due to heritage restrictions this could only be achieved through glimpses into the interior. The soaring ceilings provided the opportunity to dazzle with super scaled suspended elements in the dining space and back lit vertical installations in the bar area.

Why does the design work so well: With highly customised and bespoke interiors, Fat Noodle exemplifies the studio’s energetic approach to design.

Drawing inspiration from travels to Asia, everything except the chairs was custom designed. True artisans were enlisted to craft the bespoke elements including special effects staging builders, industrial designers, stone masons, metal workers and even a foundry.

An abstract fire dragon light sculpture bursting from the entry corridor and diving into the kitchen entices diners in the door and breathes energy into the open hawker style kitchen. A suspended custom chandelier of woks with up-lighting to thousands of golden chopsticks delicately dances overhead in the dining room. The design development and installation of these two complex elements were helped realised by Armature Design Support working closely with Luchetti Krelle.

Large lion head guardians to the back lit mirror wall were sculpted specifically for the application; artwork of the Mahjong tiles was hand painted by a COFA student for the kitchen front; stunning custom gold wallpaper adorns the walls of the private dining room.

The studio’s objective is to make each design as individual and unique as possible – responding only to the brief, the building and the client. Innovation plays a huge part in this process.

For further information on the IH&P Awards, email: awards@design-et-al.co.uk