Food experience

Äng, the Michelin-rated restaurant inside a scenic greenhouse/ architecture, spreads over two additional underground levels. Opened in summer 2022, it was designed by Norm Architects amidst the Ästad Vingård hills in Sweden, an hour from Gothenburg.

S t e l l a r g l a s s h o u s e

Set like a glass prism among Sweden’s largest vineyards is the Äng restaurant designed by Norm Architects: a place conceived to provide a unique gastronomic experience

words by Laura Maggi — photos by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen

The lounge area is designed to interact with nature, thanks to the glass walls and roof. Decorating it are armchairs and sofas by Keiji Ashizawa for Karimoku Case Study, with adjusted proportions. Solid oak wood coffee tables.

The kitchen is entrusted to executive chef Filip Gemzell who, together with his team, works closely with local producers, hunters and fishermen to source products from to the Scandinavian territory. The degustation of the tasting menu takes about four hours. On the right, the underground wine cellar plays with dark hues and has cosy chairs for wine tastings. The all-round experience of haute cuisine, art, nature and architecture begins by following the path leading through the cultivated fields to the Michelin-starred Äng restaurant in southern Sweden, surprisingly housed inside a glass greenhouse. The simple iron frame designed by Norm Architects is sealed with clear walls reflecting the landscape as it rises like the tip of a sparkling iceberg above the greenery in one of the region’s largest vineyards. And, like an iceberg, it hides submerged volumes. While the welcoming ground floor houses the bar, lounge and kitchen, the underground level reveals a well-stocked wine cellar devoid of windows; a second lounge and a large dining room flooded with natural light; the additional underground level, carved into the slope of the hill, opens up to wide views over the pond, lakes and beech forests of the Åkulla nature reserve in Halland. The client’s idea was “to provide guests with a long break to leave everything else behind and enjoy the Äng universe. A beautiful place for spending time and for discovery”. The tasting menu curated by executive chef Filip Gemzell consists of nineteen courses and the entire culinary journey lasts four and a half hours, from an aperitif in the lounge, to a descent by lift into the hidden cellar area cloaked in semidarkness, to dessert overlooking the countryside as the sun sets, in a continuum of atmospheric changes. “We played with the effects of chiaroscuro, a visual art technique used to represent light and shadow to define objects and achieve a sense of volume”, says Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen of Norm Architect, “so, as you enter the shadow, your vision weakens while the other senses intensify. Automatically, one pays more attention to sound, smell, taste and touch: intuition and instinct are also strengthened. Thus, the

A glimpse of the dining room with oak furnishings by Karimoku Case Study and ceramics by Dane, Viki Weiland. The walls are soundproofed with Acoustic panels by Kvadrat.

As the hours roll by, at sunset the colours of the surrounding landscape take on warm golden tones, tingeing the internal mood of the glass house. The same oak of the Karimoku Case Study furnishings acquires a particularly intense shade. Here, beside the large window, the evening turns to night as desserts end the meal. surprising transition and the change of scenery prepare the guests for the next part of the holistic dinner experience”. And, as architect Peter Eland points out, “in many ways the goal of the Michelin-starred restaurant is in line with our design philosophy: to find a delicate balance between all the sensory experiences that make up a space, to create a harmonious environment, in which all the elements support each other”. Frederik Werner of Norm Architects recalls that the interiors, designed in collaboration with Karimoku Case Study and Keiji Ashizawa Design “offer a holistic and sensory experience that enhances the culinary offering and reflects the identity of the restaurant. We found inspiration both in the pristine Nordic environment that surrounds Äng, as in the Japanese sensibility for the aesthetics of design and fine craftsmanship”. Founded in 2008 in Copenhagen, Norm Architects is identified by a strong design philosophy, which it defines as ‘soft minimalism’. It stems from the idea that “spaces and furnishings should serve those who use them rather than being a means of artistic expression. Our design principles are in fact people centric. Soft minimalism consists of perfecting spaces and designs in their purest forms, while maintaining a feeling of comfort and naturalness in creating spaces that possess significant tactile qualities. The philosophy is characterised by great attention to materials, scale, sound and above all people. We are not just architects and designers: we are listeners and storytellers. Our task is to understand the needs related to people’s daily lives”. —