ARIA 51 RESTAURANT

Aria 51 was designed to achieve a fantasy departure from the traditional dining experience in Hampton Roads. Simple natural materials used with integrity and celebration were employed in a very fluid concept to create this other-worldly experience. Patrons felt transported to another place while they dined.

This restaurant interior was designed to produce an experience beyond the everyday and ordinary. The owner’s program specified a 135-seat restaurant for formal and casual dining within a typical 3,900 space located in a strip shopping center. The owners wanted an upscale interior to compliment their eclectic menu. To match this, the architecture was crafted through a series of nonorthogonal walls, complimenting circular shapes, vibrant intense colors, and directional accent lighting. From the slanting walls housing the wine to the custom-made light fixtures casting “barflies” on the wall, the themes of dark and light, reflective and burnished, are repeated on a variety of scales. Circular cutouts in the carpet, circular graphics on the storefront, steel discs inlaid in the tabletops, and curvilinear details in the silverware exemplify the range of scale in the details. This combination of architectural elements brings together an interior that is beyond the ordinary, creating a space full of drama.