In the heart of Rotterdam, underneath a tough brutalistic parking structure by Marcel Breuer, we designed District A Vietnamese Streetfood as a raw but cosy restaurant.The interior is conceived as a neutral basis on which the colourful furniture, tableware and dishes stand out.

Vietnamese cuisine is characterised by fresh herbs and a refined combination of Asian flavours with French influences: transparant spring rolls, tasty Banh Mi sandwiches and clear Pho Bo stock.

Already from the street, when you enter District A, you will immediately see where all this is prepared. District A distinguishes itself form the typical Asian restaurant, by being very open about where and how the food is made.

The open kitchen forms the center of attention in the back of the space. Through a big cut out in the back wall, visitors have a clear view on the chefs who stand out in their white uniforms against the green glazed tiles. Like actors in a play, they transmit the energy and flavour of the kitchen into the restaurant.

We kept the ceiling uncovered. Actually, we had to remove a dropped ceiling to be surprised by the large T-beams that make up the parking garage ramp above.
The concrete ceiling ribs nicely accentuate the lenght and add heigt to the space, drawing your eye in from the street and guiding it to the green kitchen in the back.
We utilised these raw elements to add character to the space and the linearity of the ceiling informed the ordering principle of the restaurant layout.

The bar, bottle rack and a wooden bench are placed in the length of the space, strenghtening the lineair character of the space. The tables are placed perpendicular so while seated you have both a view in the kitchen as well as to the street, thus melting Street and Food into one tasty whole. The material palette is tuned down. Blue steel for the bar counter, the bottle rack and the metal frame around the opening to the kitchen. Concrete for the base of the bar and oak wood for the bench. On the long wall, the old stucco is removed to expose the original brickwork. This uninterrupted surface guides the eye also to the back. The steel frame surrounding the open kitchen can be used for decoration and storage, leaving the bar free of visual clutter.

typology interior for restaurant
commissioned District A
design LAGADO architects and Koen Klok, 2015
realisation Cor Speijer, Willems VGO, Erik Hombrink Projecten
location Aert van nesstraat 32 Rotterdam, The Netherlands
photography  Ossip van Duivenbode
awards longlist Rotterdamse Architectuurprijs 2016
publications  De Architect