Awards:
2024 Mention Award, Interior Architecture: AIA Cincinnati Design Awards // Kozue
Description:
Kozue is an elevated sushi and ramen experience for Cincinnati diners, dreamed up by an innovative local restaurateur inspired by the beauty and vitality of nature. When presented with the opportunity to join a new development, he eagerly embraced the chance to collaborate.
He sought to create a dining atmosphere that balances delicacy and strength, an aspiration deeply rooted in Japanese culture and symbolized by the tree branch. The name "Kozue," meaning "tree branches" or "tree tops," reflects this vision and evokes the transcendental art of sushi-making. The forms, strategies, and motifs developed as a design language are oblique references to these ideas.
Throughout the design process, the owner emphasized his desire for an intimate dining experience. However, the double-height, narrow tenant space posed challenges. The restaurant's location within a multi-story, mixed-use development also placed limitations on the location and distribution of mechanical systems. To address these constraints, a suspended wooden ceiling cloud was created to scale down the space and conceal the mechanical equipment above. This warm, delicate structure lends elegance and intimacy to the dining area, unifying the dining room spatially and symbolically.
The design features three distinct dining experiences: a cozy main dining area, a riverine sushi bar, and an al fresco patio. A structural column, positioned centrally in the space, is clad smartly to anchor the dining area, while the sushi bar wends past. Linear screening and framing elements echo throughout the design, appearing in the storefront treatment at the entrance, the ceiling cloud over the dining room, and the grille framing the open kitchen pass.
An abstract mural designed by a local artist stretches the full length of the dining room. Complementing the intimate scale created by the suspended ceiling cloud and wrap-around banquettes, it provides a warm backdrop and custom flourish to the composition.
More atmosphere than image, the design supports a thematically rich culinary experience that changes with every visit.
