Launch Slideshow

The space before the renovation.

Good Bones

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Good Bones

  • This restaurant occupies the space between a historic masonry facade and a 1980s midrise building in the heart of San Francisco's financial district. Designer Joshua Darling says, "The client wanted to transform a once dark and cavernous space into a modern setting to showcase his nouvelle barbecue cuisine."

    http://www.remodeling.hw.net/Images/tmpF0FD%2Etmp_tcm17-610767.jpg

    This restaurant occupies the space between a historic masonry facade and a 1980s midrise building in the heart of San Francisco's financial district. Designer Joshua Darling says, "The client wanted to transform a once dark and cavernous space into a modern setting to showcase his nouvelle barbecue cuisine."

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    Matthew Millman

    This restaurant occupies the space between a historic masonry facade and a 1980s midrise building in the heart of San Francisco's financial district. Designer Joshua Aidlin says, "The client wanted to transform a once dark and cavernous space into a modern setting to showcase his nouvelle barbecue cuisine."

  • The space before the renovation.

    http://www.remodeling.hw.net/Images/tmpF0FE%2Etmp_tcm17-610775.jpg

    The space before the renovation.

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    The space before the renovation.

  • The warm interior glow and dynamic sculptural canopy beckon diners inside.

    http://www.remodeling.hw.net/Images/tmpF0FF%2Etmp_tcm17-610783.jpg

    The warm interior glow and dynamic sculptural canopy beckon diners inside.

    600

    Matthew Millman

    The warm interior glow and dynamic sculptural canopy beckon diners inside.

  • The canopy, which bridges the gap between the old and the new, filters and reflects light to balance light levels in the front and rear of the space.

    http://www.remodeling.hw.net/Images/tmpF100%2Etmp_tcm17-610791.jpg

    The canopy, which bridges the gap between the old and the new, filters and reflects light to balance light levels in the front and rear of the space.

    600

    Matthew Millman

    The canopy, which bridges the gap between the old and the new, filters and reflects light to balance light levels in the front and rear of the space.

  • The canopy's undulating form, says designer Joshua Darling, is "evocative of smoke, charred wood, and the skeletal remains" of the barbecued food. The canopy was created by laser-cutting a series of MDF fin profiles extracted from a 3-D model generated by the architect.

    http://www.remodeling.hw.net/Images/tmpF101%2Etmp_tcm17-610799.jpg

    The canopy's undulating form, says designer Joshua Darling, is "evocative of smoke, charred wood, and the skeletal remains" of the barbecued food. The canopy was created by laser-cutting a series of MDF fin profiles extracted from a 3-D model generated by the architect.

    600

    Matthew Millman

    The canopy's undulating form, says designer Joshua Aidlin, is "evocative of smoke, charred wood, and the skeletal remains" of the barbecued food. The canopy was created by laser-cutting a series of MDF fin profiles extracted from a 3-D model generated by the architect.

Location: San Francisco

Contractor: Ian Tallon, Northern Sun Associates, San Francisco

Designer: Aidlin Darling Design, San Francisco

The owner of this nouvelle barbecue restaurant in San Francisco’s financial district says that the response to his eatery wouldn’t have been so powerful without this dramatic transformation of the building. “It’s kick-started his business,” says Joshua Aidlin, who was on the project’s design team.

Built in 1914, the building occupies a small space between a historic masonry facade and a 1980s midrise building.

The designers used four primary elements to create a warm and light-filled space: the canopy, a dynamic undulating ceiling installation formed from MDF wood composite fin profiles; an agrarian palette of rift-sawn oak and zinc; a neutral ribbon of white walls and various elements that create an extension of space in the small dining room; and a scrim — a translucent fabric — that filters and transforms the natural light.

While the judges were impressed with the canopy, they commented that “it’s really about the whole space, which has a powerful anthropomorphic quality that draws you in.” One judge said, “It feels like I’m relating to something that breathes.”

“Some people go ‘wow’ at the ceiling sculpture, and some don’t,” Aidlin says. “It’s a metaphor for the smoke and the bones.”

—Stacey Freed, senior editor, REMODELING.