199 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Most clients want design solutions for their projects that they cannot afford. This is the time when we at StudioRB are a happy bunch. Why? Because this is when we get to play “designer”. This is the time when we put our heads together and come up with creative solutions.
This is exactly what happened with our clients from Willow. Willow is an American vegan bistro located in the Chelsea neighborhood. We designed the space in the midst of the Covid pandemic, in December 2020. The uncertainty of the times and no clear future of the restaurant industry made the budget for the Willow project extremely tight. In addition, materials availability and lead times were impossible to predict. That didn’t mean that our clients would settle for a regular out of the box deign solution. On the contrary, they still wanted to achieve unique look for their restaurant. They showed us an inspiration image of a glossy cement beveled tile for the front of the bar that they loved and wanted to incorporate in the design. Of course, the tile was unavailable and not within the budget.
The iInspiration image
We set on to come up with a budget friendly solution. We went to Home Depot to search for easily available and inexpensive materials. While browsing the isles we stumbled on some PVS water pipes and the light bulb went on. We thought of cutting the pipes in half, paint them and figure out a way to connect them. We bought a few pipes and headed to the garage where we built a mockup.
We thought this worked but we still had to convince out clients. They did like the look we achieved and as well as the projected cost. We promised them that not only we will provide the necessary drawings and details but that we will be part of construction process as well.
The pipes ware connected to each other with U channels and spray painted gold to add a bit of sparkle. To secure the PVC pipes to the bar we used gold screws that became additional detail like jewels holding the pipes.
The beautiful modern rest foot and the undercounted LED strip lights contributed to the finished look. We used clear acrylic chairs to avoid blocking this beauty.
You can see the final product by clicking here or even better by visiting Willow at 199 8th Avenue, New York, NY 10011