for a restaurant that serves authentic street rice noodle from chinese province hunan, new york- and shanghai-based studio new practice has created a dining space that engages with the bustling neighborhood of east village, NY. the long space of ‘slurp’ is accentuated by a wooden arch with fillet corners ‘carved’ from the white volume.

all image © montse zamorano

‘the space is conceived as a place to look through, a continuous volume is carved out from the storefront into the interior so that a direct dialogue is established between the street and the restaurant,’ explains the new practice team.

a group of long dining tables anchors the center of the restaurant and adds to the continuity of the space. the interplay between the white plastered wall and wood screen creates a bright and warm atmosphere.

the rhythmic wood screen with fillet corners reinforces the geometry of the space while resembling the rice noodle served in the restaurant. the screen is set over existing brick walls and carefully designed backlighting adds another layer of subtlety to the volume.

project info:

location: new york, USA

program: restaurant

size: 280 sqm

status: completed, 2018

interior designer: new practice studio

design team: nianlai zhong, tai-li lee, sidong lang, junchao yang, steve fang lighting design: junrui wang

photography: montse zamorano