Ester Bruzkus Architekten approached the design of the new Berlin-Mitte restaurant REMI for chefs Lode van Zuylen and Stijn Remi by using architectural materials that are high in quality, carefully sourced and crafted, with rigorous attention to detail. This is the very approach to ingredients that the chefs bring to crafting a meal, so the success of the project results from a synergy between the architects and the chefs. The design is intended to emphasize simplicity and quality - and to enhance a dining experience that is authentic, straightforward and fun.

At the center of the space is the open kitchen – surrounded by materials working together like diverse ingredients for a good meal: unfinished perforated aluminum, rough stucco, red-colored MDF cabinetry, transparent lacquered birch, pale blue curtains, stainless steel and a natural deep red granite that combines all the colors used in REMI. The volumes that make up the kitchen are framed by overhead rings of lighting, enhancing and unifying the clean and transparent design.

The detailing reveals the inherent qualities of the materials - what they look like in cross-section, their thickness and depth, and how the different materials make outside corners. The best example of this material approach is how the red-colored MDF is used - the color is not applied to the surface but all the interior fibers are stained - so when it is cut, it reveals its interior like a stick of butter.

The design takes advantage of the best attributes of the site in the ground floor of the new Suhrkamp Verlag building by Bundschuh Architekten. An important goal of the design was to retain the feeling of openness that comes from the high exposed concrete ceilings and the expansive glass fronts on either side of the restaurant. A triangular welcome desk resolves the complicated geometry of the site so that the dining areas have a placid atmosphere.

The dining area furniture, provided by Studio Coucou, combines custom-made tables in fine plywood, polished steel and Forbo linoleum with chairs by Please Wait To Be Seated, custom wood banquettes upholstered with corduroy fabric by Kvadrat and lighting by Valerie Objects. The large overhead rings of light were designed by Ester Bruzkus Architekten.

The design for REMI shows the parallels between good design and a modern dining experience. By treating architectural materials with the same approach as the chefs approach the meal, Ester Bruzkus Architekten have created a restaurant for chefs Lode van Zuylen and Stijn Remi that is bright, carefully detailed, and made from architectural materials that come together like a well crafted meal.

The café, located on the sixth floor of Berlin’s KaDeWe Department Store, is a play of materials, textures, colors, and forms. Through the selection and juxtaposition of different materials, the project combines contrasts of smooth and textured, refined and raw, natural and synthetic, glossy and matte, muted and bright, traditional and new. The overall composition is made from boxes of different materials and colors in dialogue with each other.

The design offsets cool stainless steel, mirrored metals, and glossy orange and lavender powder coats with clay paint and two types of warm and natural terra cotta tiles by Fornace Brioni: marbled tiles on the walls and fluted tiles under the counter, like a skirt. Unlike the crisp machine-aesthetic of the metals that are also used next to them, the terra cotta tiles are made by expert age-old hand-crafting techniques that produce a unique marbled surface by mixing different clays. The contrast emphasizes the inherent qualities of each material.

The result attempts to bring together material opposites - natural and artificial, colorful and muted, hand-crafted and machined – in order to make a fun place to get a cup of coffee when you are shopping at the KaDeWe.

For the design of Tim Raue’s restaurant in the historic Villa Kellermann in Potsdam, Ester Bruzkus Architekten have combined a series of contrasts: old and new, traditional and innovative, familiar and surprising. Like the recipes that Tim presents to the diners, the architecture of the dining areas are designed to be a fresh and surprising take on familiar themes.

Each room is its own colorful experience based on contemporary interpretations of historic colors: blues, greens, and beige tones. The main dining room, the Alte Fritz Saal, preserves the light beige textures and colors of the old building; the Green Dining Rooms are saturated in a harmony of carefully selected hues; the Elephant Room is a cozy lounge in Prussian Blue for languorous views of the Lake.

The design idea is to present each of the historical rooms as its own unique rich chromatic experience. Saturated in different hues, each room celebrates the historic legacy of the Villa and furnishes it with comfortable settings made from carefully curated materials and textures. The rich and contrasting fabrics for the chairs and custom benches come from different companies to make a playful collage of colors and textures: from Dedar, Kvadrat, Gaston y Daniela, and Fidivi. The different patterns are likewise a playful montage of materials including vintage designs from from Richard Morris & Co and the Swedish designer Estrid Ericson.

Custom cabinetry by Ester Bruzkus Architekten is made from metal frames infilled with colored and salted wood veneers by Llot Llov. All of the benches are custom designed by Ester Bruzkus Architekten in fabrics and solid brass trimmings, but the freestanding chairs have been selected from other noted designers: the chair in the elephant room was designed by the Danish designer Hans Olsen and is called the Gesture Chair, designed in the 1950s. The other freestanding chair that is used is the Verpan Chair, designed by Verner Panton in 1967.

Ester Bruzkus Architekten have developed the lighting concept together with PS Lab, who have designed and manufactured all of the light fixtures with each specific room of the Villa Kellermann in mind. The different halls have lights that are calibrated to optimize the ambiance of that particular room: the thin lines that extend out of the walls in the Alte Fritz Saal, the low floor lamps in the Elephant Room, the radial patterns cast by glass globes in the lower level, the flower-like (or is it the bottom of a rocket engine?) ceiling fixture that welcomes diners in the foyer.

Creating a restaurant within the historic Villa Kellermann meant that Ester Bruzkus Architekten had to carefully balance issues of preservation with innovation. Paying careful attention to preserving historic building fabric, the designers also restored important interior details: stucco profiles, wooden panels, antique doors and the marble fireplace. The historic lines of each room presents a design dialogue with bespoke furnishings and light fixtures made from fabrics and metals of brass, patterns, textures & colors - vintage and modern. And the furnishings stay respectfully away from the walls so that the conversation between new and old is clear and so that views to the lake are optimized.

The design of Tim Raue’s restaurant in the Villa Kellermann is a play of delightful contrasts and surprises, like his cuisine. It is familiar and new, innovative and based in tradition, comfortable and stylish.

Refreshing as a dip in the pool! For the design of an American Poke restaurant in the Mitte part of Berlin, Ester Bruzkus Architekten have designed the interior of the new restaurant L.A. Poke without resorting to predictable or sentimental iconography. "We were inspired by the chill mood of the American West Coast," says architect Ester Bruzkus. So the design idea was to make a Poke restaurant that was as relaxed as a day at the pool. Using color and material contrasts, the architects playfully toy with horizon lines, framed vistas and surprising one’s expectations.

The interior design of the L.A. Poke makes use of contrasts of thick and thin, sharp and soft, curved and straight, rough and smooth. Vistas and views framed by plaster arches bring the eye deep into the space, define open and intimate spaces, and tease the sense that there are mirrors, even though there are not. Another playful use of symmetry is the horizon line that bisects all front rooms exactly at eye level. Here, Ester Bruzkus Architekten play with color and texture: below the line, perhaps it is the pool that is recalled, with blue shades in the Le Corbusier color outremer gris, smooth texture, custom tubular steel furniture and reflective horizontal surfaces. Above the horizon line, on and the walls as well as the ceilings, they use the color terre sienne pâle, this time on a rough surface, which suggests the summer sun striking a clay wall - Le Corbusier describes it as "sandy, subtle and restrained." The two color zones are connected by round outdoor glass lights that sit exactly on the horizon line.

In the seating niches, guests dine on tubular upholstery in Yves Klein blue; the shape is soft and round like an air mattress. In the central room, a large custom table with a red metal frame supports a black-and-white terrazzo top as a colorful and surprising contrast. "I enjoy working with unexpected moments of surprise," says Ester Bruzkus. "This brings excitement to the interior." This attitude is also reflected in the rear of the restaurant: on the walk past the kitchen to the washrooms one is entirely enveloped in the intense glow of the same Yves Klein blue as the seat cushions – on the walls, ceiling and floors. The contrasting bright red toilet rooms are a total surprise. The lively black and white terrazzo is used again as a surface for the sinks.

Besides one wall ornamented with neon script, the only decorative elements in the restaurant are large plants in terracotta pots – and the colorful palette of the poke food choices themselves. Resisting the temptation to resort to predictable narrative decorations, Ester Bruzkus Architekten’s characteristic contrasts of round and straight, thick and thin, restrained and lush, give the interior a playful, relaxed and opulent feel.

Star Chef Tim Raue’s dream for his first restaurant was an architecture that “should be as precise and clear as my dishes.” It took a mere fourteen weeks to transform the former Crone Art Gallery into a restaurant that reflects this chef’s culinary style: sophistication scaled down to the essentials. The restaurant is divided into a “white cube” on the ground floor with a “black box” below. In the white cube, oiled walnut tables stand on a polished mastic asphalt floor surrounded by differing tones of blue. Benches in Prussian Blue frame the boundaries of the space.

Down the stairs, the salon is furnished with brightly colored carpets and oiled walnut slats. Here guests can have an aperitif in an intimate atmosphere illuminated by a sky of 500 light bulbs. On special request, guests are welcomed into the show kitchen at the bar’s white Carrara marble counter to have a private dining experience. The highlight of the restaurant is the “Krug Table” with its hand made metal marqueterie. Made of the same oak typically used for champagne boxes, its location directly next to the kitchen allows guests a perfect view into the interior of Tim Raue’s sanctuary.

Set designs for Miele's Artline were used to present the new Miele products. Photographs of the sets were used in international campaigns to advertise Miele's top-of-the-line minimalist products.

An arched wooden slatted structure was inserted within a simple bare interior space, simultaneously creating clear spatial definition as well as a sense of spaciousness . The walls of the interior space are simply made from a curved grid of wooden slats that frame the red neon-lit logo on the interior wall. A central service bar divides the room into separate zones: a solid terrazzo service counter and a seating area with square tabletops, a brown leather seating unit and individual wooden rose-colored chairs. The wooden slats that form the lattice walls also support planters and other smaller objects.

This small cafe is located near busy Friedrichstrasse, very close to the Gendarmenmarkt.

Dragonfly was the first venture outside of Germany from Michelin Star Chef Tim Raue. The design concept recalls the bright red theatricality of the Chinese temple.

The approach of the restaurant’s cuisine is represented in the interior architecture: opulent decoration, vintage Asian furniture, bold colors, and coordinated combinations of simple and lacquered materials. The centrepiece of the restaurant area, which has a two level floor, is a simply constructed bright red pedestal with a framework reminiscent of a classical tea house.

Three brasseries were developed for the star Berlin chef in Munich, Berlin and Konstanz.

Parisian brasseries are brought to mind in the décor, thanks to hand-selected antique furniture such as brasserie chairs, marble tables, brass bars and elegant vintage wooden train benches. The walls are clad in dark woods and mirrors, and are covered with framed art and memorabilia. The designs combine the antique and the new in familiar and surprising ways. The feel is modern, familiar and friendly.

Like the symbiosis of Berlin Mitte – both old and new – DEAN is gray on the outside but surprisingly glamorous inside. Behind the coal-black entrance, an elegant bar shimmers beneath a shining gold ceiling. The floor is black mastic asphalt; the walls are of dark timber and mirrored slats. Guests are guided, as if on a catwalk, along the length of the black marble bar to the dance floor, past soft seating in niches clad with dark-gray velvet – a perfect place to indulge in the excellent DEAN cocktails. And while the guests move towards the music, golden lights pulse above them in sync with the beat. Behind the dance floor, the lounge with its mirror slats offers drinks in a cool, relaxed atmosphere.

The space below Holbein’s world-renowned restaurant at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt was transformed into a minimalist sushi bar.

The pale wood floor-to-ceiling slatted cladding evokes the individual layers that make up the flesh of a fish. The design is detailed to present these slats as a series of parallel planes of wood. Built-in spotlights are located between the ceiling slats.

The Japanese dishes are prepared directly at the white Carrara marble counter, separated from diners by a narrow panel of smoked glass. A shelf with backlit stamped-metal ornaments hangs behind the bar.