ROYAL CHINA RESTAURANT

Restaurants that are well designed are not merely places to eat one?s fill, but are environments that mirror the fine cuisine served, thus heightening the sensations enjoyed by the palate. For the Singapore franchise of the famed London-based Royal China restaurant, Ministry of Design has created just such an environment.

Situated in the colonial Raffles Hotel, our design calls for two interventions. The first is a choreographed transition between the whitewashed arcade of the historic hotel setting and MOD?s contemporary dining hall within. Inspired by the organic qualities of the graphic wave synonymous with the restaurant?s logo, this transition is both visually and spatially wave-like.

Once inside the main restaurant hall, the second intervention, a dramatic 6m-vaulted ceiling commands a strong visual axis, along which a line of tables are ceremoniously set. Drawing from Chinese Brocade, dining nooks and private dining rooms feature quilted artwork, curtains and wood paneling inspired by the richness of its coloured embroidery.

Blending both traditional and modern aesthetics, MOD has also custom-designed the ?double happiness? chair for the restaurant, tailored menus + signage to complement the spatial design as well as collaborated with rising-star fashion designer Nic Wong of Nicholas on the uniform design.

Question, Disturb and Redefine!
Through a series of architectural & interior architectural explorations, Ministry of Design is positioned as an integrated spatial-design practice that consciously blurs prevalent intellectual & literal boundaries between interior space & exterior form. Acknowledging the limitations of these distinctions on our design process, Ministry of Design's explorations are created amidst a democratic "studio-like" atmosphere and progress seamlessly between form, site, object and space.