Best Full-Service Restaurant Design — Check Average More Than $50 per Person
Winner: Haii Keii, Houston
- Interior Design, Custom FF&A Design, Construction Administration: Gin Design Group, Houston
- FF&A Procurement: GEWL Procure, Houston
- General Contractor & Custom Fabrication: Objektfab, Houston
- Architectural Lighting Design: KPK Lighting Design, Houston
- Sculptural Art Installation: Moon Pappas, Houston
- Custom Rope Installation: Fibrous Co, Austin, Texas
- Graphic Art & Etched Lucite Design: Raydon Creative, Houston
- Decorative Finishes & Murals: Republic Finishes, Houston
- Project Mapping & Experiential Media: Input/Output, Houston
- Exterior Signage Design: Aria Signs, Houston
- Custom Upholstery: Margaret Kiesel/House of Fine Interiors, Houston
- Audio/Visual Integration: Premier Audio Solutions, Houston
Haii Keii is a 2,800-square-foot surreal take on a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn usually located near hot springs. With seating for 153, the dramatic space layers shadow, color and cinematic elements to create a truly immersive dining experience. In the main dining space, an 8-foot inverted bonsai tree embedded with LED lights crowns the bar, reflecting and warped by an oversized tinted mirror. More than 4,000 linear feet of red rope cascades down the walls, hugging the banquettes. The space creates drama through contrast: raw shou sugi ban against high-gloss red, metallic plaster against turquoise upholstery, shadows that play against the LED lighting spectacle.
The judges loved the “use of color blocking and lighting” and felt there was “a good use of zones.” The “lighting really defines the space” and “captures the imagination.”
Images courtesy of Leonid Furmansky
