USAGIYA Kyoto by cafe co.

Cafe co., led by Yoshiyuki Morii, has renovated a dumpling bar, 'Usagiya Kyoto', in a Kyo-machiya traditional wooden townhouse in Gion. The bar is well-known for its unique dumplings and natural wine combinations. From the cobbled street, visitors can see the restaurant through the brightly coloured glass behind the traditional Japanese-style lattice.

When we asked about the design concept, Morii said, "We wanted to define a new boundary between the outside and the inside, so we used rainbow-coloured glass on the facade. The rainbow-coloured glass is covered with a special film that changes colour depending on the angle and the way the light hits, giving it a completely different appearance during the day and night.

The designer, Hiroyuki Nagira, explained, "Due to Kyoto's building design regulations to preserve townscape, we are not allowed to change the exterior in this area. Therefore we built a rainbow-coloured glass wall 10cm inside the exterior wall as a double-skin."

In contrast to the futuristic film, which the restaurant owner also liked, the ceiling and walls are covered with cedarwood. During the design period, an encounter with the woodworker Kotaro Mori made significant progress in the fit-out.

"At the time, I happened to see Mr Mori's furniture and visited his workshop in Nara prefecture, which gave me the idea for the design of this restaurant. He has experience as a ship's carpenter and is wonderfully able to create distinctive shapes with various hand planes. We designed the countertops with slightly raised edges to give them a Chinese touch, suited to a gyoza dumpling bar and asked Mr Mori to produce that. In the past, I had avoided cedar wood because of its reddish colour, and it looked unrefined. However, after using it, we realised that it could be a modern space, depending on how the wood grain is used," Morii recalled.

The designer has combined Mori's plane-finished seat and tabletop with delicate legs by steel artist Hiroshi Kitao. Along with the furniture, a cantilevered bench creates a light and airy feel. Morii said that he had created it with respect for the mid-century British designer Robin Day in designing the furniture.

In terms of cost-saving, using existing equipment was also a critical factor in this refurbishment project. They decided to use the existing small kitchen at the back of the restaurant for cooking, while the counter was for drinks only, to avoid the dining area looking cluttered. By changing only the top of the existing countertop, they saved money and dramatically changed the overall atmosphere.

In this site-specific renovation, the designer's situational judgement and the editorial sensibility working with the artists have given the space a glamorous character that cannot be described in words such as Japanese-style or modern.