FEATURE
restaurants The new Noma dissolves the traditional idea of a restaurant into its constituent parts and reassembles them in a way that puts the chefs at the heart of it all. All photos: Rasmus Hjortshoj, V2com
integral part of the culinary experience.” The Noma kitchen is designed like a panopticon with an oversized hood hovering over the chefs. From here, the chefs can oversee the entire kitchen and guest areas, including the dining room and adjacent private dining room. These spaces are made of stacked timber planks that resemble neatly piled wood at a lumberyard. A large skylight and an expansive set of windows that slide to reveal the outdoor permagarden allow restaurant guests to truly sense all of the seasons and the restaurant’s natural surrounds. Outside, three freestanding glass houses provide the restaurant’s garden, test kitchen, and bakery. Guests have the opportunity to walk through each of the surrounding buildings and to experience a variety of Nordic materials and building techniques. The barbecue is a giant walk-in hut, and the lounge looks and feels like a giant, cozy fireplace made entirely of brick inside and out. In between the individual buildings are spaces enclosed with glass, allowing guests and the
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COMMERCI A L A RCHI T EC T URE
NOVEMBER 2018
commercialarchitecturemagazine.com
Central to BIG’s design was the idea of changing the restaurant’s individual functions and organizing them as a collection of separate, yet connected, buildings. A total of eleven spaces, each tailored to their specific needs, are densely clustered around the restaurant’s heart: the kitchen.
