* JAMES BEARD OUTSTANDING AWARD * NEW YORK LANDMARKS PRESERVTION COMMISSION AWARD Set within the Historic Cast Iron District of Soho, this two-story modern building was designed to house a bar and restaurant. The site consisted of a narrow 25’ x 100’ vacant parking lot flanked by 6 story landmarked buildings on both sides. Bar 89 consists o... read more

* JAMES BEARD OUTSTANDING AWARD * NEW YORK LANDMARKS PRESERVTION COMMISSION AWARD Set within the Historic Cast Iron District of Soho, this two-story modern building was designed to house a bar and restaurant. The site consisted of a narrow 25’ x 100’ vacant parking lot flanked by 6 story landmarked buildings on both sides. Bar 89 consists of a simple double story space, 26’ tall punctuated by a series of distinct architectural objects: Façade/Entrance, Bar, Skylight, stair, and Lounge. Each element is related to each other and to the building as a whole by upon a common geometry, materials and an attention to details. Bar 89’s façade is an important visual element from the inside as well as from the outside. The steel and glass façade is meant to be a modern counterpart to the neighboring cast iron buildings. The transparency of the façade allows the passerby on the street to view and be drawn in. In the bar, the façade gives an unimpeded view of the street, borrowing the cast iron buildings façade across the street as to serve a backdrop to the pedestrians looking in. This back and forth visual dialogue is repeated several times in the design of the bar. As one moves up or down the gently curved stair, or in the unisex lounge where the bathroom stall doors are completely transparent. The doors are intended to create a “sexual tension” - a specific request from the owner. Each glass door individually turns translucent when engaged from within. The doors are made from a liquid crystal interlayer sandwiched between two planes of glass. They are activated by a low voltage electric circuit. As a modern insertion within the historical neighborhood of Soho, Bar 89, through vision and light, reflects on the transitions between old and new, interior and exterior, and transparency and translucency. collapse