Industry Kitchen Restaurant Bar, New York South Street Building, FDR Drive Development, USA Architecture

Industry Kitchen Restaurant Bar

70 South Street Development located under Manhattan’s FDR Drive, NYC, USA – design by Wid Chapman Architects

May 22, 2015

Industry Kitchen Restaurant Bar in New York

Design: Wid Chapman Architects

Location: New York, USA

Address: 70 South St, New York, United States

Phone: +1 212-487-9600

Wid Chapman Architects Industry Kitchen Restaurant/Bar Opening in SHoP Architects Building

Wid Chapman Architects (New York, NY), designer of well-considered, welcoming places that effectively meld architecture and interiors, announces the completion of Industry Kitchen, a 3200- square-foot, 210-seat indoor/outdoor restaurant and bar located under Manhattan’s FDR Drive, just south of South Street Seaport. Nestled under the Drive’s overpass, it is housed in an iconic structure designed by SHoP Architects, just yards from the East River’s edge.

The inspiration for the project’s design evolved organically from the awe-inspiring site and view, which called for an industrial, raw, and authentic approach. Its color palette is clean and simple to complement the building’s cutting-edge design. The building’s floor plan has a slight horseshoe shape in deference to a large steel column supporting the overpass above, which divides the interior into two connected sides: a dining room on the right, and a large freestanding bar on the left. The two areas are anchored and connected by a long concrete panel wall, which separates the patron areas from the kitchen, bathroom, and other back-of-house functions.

The concrete wall on the dining side of the restaurant is interrupted by a large opening to the kitchen framed by handmade green glazed tiles and blackened steel. The opening creates a view into the pizza making area, which is anchored by two hefty, wood burning ovens. Bar dining at the window allows for social interaction between kitchen staff and patrons. The wood bar dining ledge ends at marble-encased steel niches that house wood logs for the oven.

The remaining dining area is housed with custom wood plank and steel tables fabricated from the floorboards of old trucks. The ceiling above is a floating folded plan structure of reclaimed oak wood planks. Massive custom pendant fixtures inspired by industrial gears hang from the ceiling.

The bar side of the restaurant is home to a 50-seat island bar with a zinc top, capped with another folded plan wood plank ceiling. Fifty sabre-like custom pendant light fixtures hang at random angles, a nod to the angled ceiling itself. From outside, this cluster of linear lights serves as an attention-grabbing beacon along the waterfront. Carved into the nearby concrete wall, steel framed wire mesh cabinets backed with graphic Moroccan tiles add a sense of gravitas to the wine and beer growler storage. All of the glass doors along the east edge fold open to the 160-seat dining deck and to the East River and Brooklyn Heights beyond.

“This project is the tenth restaurant/bar the firm has designed for Merchants Hospitality, including Pier 15’s Watermark in another SHoP Architects structure,” says Principal Wid Chapman. “It represents a next step in the renaissance of South Street Seaport, a renewed magnet for New Yorkers and visitors alike.”