Hopleaf Bar + Restaurant
Chicago, 2002. 

 
The existing Hopleaf Tavern was expanded from a 990 sq ft bar to 6000 sq ft restaurant, in an existing masonry apartment building.

The strategy was to leave just the masonry shell remaining, and introduce several key, yet low cost, design element s that would double as both functional solutions and methods of heightening the awareness of the typical masonry shell that exemplifies the Chicago building stock.

The custom designed exterior windows were applied to the exterior wall surface, so that only the raw masonry opening remained from the interior view.

The simply folded galvanized ceiling panels, while also referencing the stamped metal ceiling typical for commercial spaces from another era, are used to mask the mechanical systems above on the one hand and give a lightness to contrast the weight of the masonry shell.

The steel handrail custom installed on site was designed as a decorative element, and also to mask the weight of the mezzanine level.