Temple Restaurant / Cafe
Year 2001 | Beverly Hills, California
2001 Los Angeles Business Council Award
Award: Outstanding Low-Rise Renovation
Featured on the Cover of interior Design Magazine, July 2001
In Collaboration with RC Architect
The original building was designed in 1956 for the Tiny Naylor's coffee shop chain by architects Armet and Davis who made a name for themselves in the late 1940's, 50's and 60's with their exuberant versions of roadside commercial pop modernism, referred to as "Googie" style, after a restaurant by the same name.
The design of Temple Restaurant transforms the eye-catching kitsch modernism of a 24-hour roadside greasy spoon into a refined, ethereal setting for euro- Korean cuisine. Opposition is established between light and dark by anchoring a dynamic, black walnut-stained wood form on the central axis of the building and using white, translucent, and light-reflective materials elsewhere. A floor to ceiling layer of clear glass allows the visual continuity of interior and exterior space to be complete, while a row of white block walls, six feet square, defines the perimeter of the outdoor dining terrace. These elements engage the wood form at the center and the zig-zag roof volume in a rhythmically complex relationship.
One approaches Temple up a gentle ramp and under a luminous shade parallel to the street and arrives on axis with the entry, then enters over a threshold of water, setting foot upon a hovering white ground plane. White glass mosaic tile, aluminum plate and mirror glass are used to lighten the visual weight of volumes and surfaces by reflecting light in different ways. The abstract qualities of the existing building were emphasized and key elements accentuated to subtly allude to traditional eastern design while introducing new elements derived from classic modern architecture and contemporary minimalist sculpture.
The interior palette is a combination of blues whites and chocolates with custom made tables and benches with the owners' elegant collection of antique celadon vases as the perfect minimal accessory.
