Yen London

Sybarite created a fine dining soba restaurant for Japanese owned Onward Holdings Co., Ltd in London. The space was arranged as a large, airy and light drenched dining space with an open kitchen, sushi counter, intimate private dining room and an ambient jade hued mezzanine cocktail bar area.

Designed as a pared-back Western reinterpretation of Japanese dining and living environments, rich in Japanese cues, from construction techniques and materials of maple, bamboo, yellow cedar to delicate hand painted chiyogami paper. High ceilings are populated by a criss-cross wooden canopy structure of varying thickness and tone throughout: an architectural metaphor for a bamboo forested treescape.

A floating timber staircase connects the entrance to the main dining floor, appearing as a cantilevered monocoque construction, albeit conceived of a robust concealed steel engineering structure. Each timber section is carved from a single block of maple, using artisanal carpentry methods.

The private dining room is a restful space reminiscent of a Japanese Minka with wooden slats, back-lit sliding screens, tatami matting and a goutenjou ceiling.