Sciuscia Restaurant and Bar
New York City
Marble Fairbanks Architects

A special ceiling and wall panel system allows the architects to meet both deadline and budget

© Gregory Goode Photography

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The primary design challenge for this new restaurant was to transform a basement location into an open and light dining space. Additionally, the architects were faced with a short time frame for completion and a limited budget. A component for the restaurant is then the custom, graduated, perforated ceiling and wall panel system. It acts dually to both form a delicate surface and to alleviate the sense of being below ground. Through a streamlined production process for the ceiling and wall panels and design drawings that were simultaneously used as laser cutting paths for the panel fabrication, the project was designed and built in two months.

Although the client requested that the dining room be open and flexible, there was also an interest in being able to divide the room for various-sized events and to close off areas during less busy times. Several sheer, lightweight curtains were designed to separate the dining room and to form smaller, more intimate areas. The curtain tracks are located in relation to the highest density perforated pattern in the ceiling to supplement the acoustical separation between zones. In addition to the grid of downlights set above the ceiling panels for general lighting, small lights follow the curtain track to highlight the curtain fabric when closed.

Location:
New York City

Gross square footage:
2,200 sq. ft.

Owner:
Gianfranco and Paula Sorrentino

Architect:
Marble Fairbanks Architects
66 West Broadway, Suite 600
New York, NY 10007
Tel: 212-233-0653
Fax: 212-233-0654
info@marblefairbanks.com
www.marblefairbanks.com