Charlie Bird Restaurant

The Charlie Bird team hired us to transform one of the more awkward dining spaces in the entire city into their first venture in the New York restaurant scene. The squat, double-height room, off King Street, was tight, narrow, and tapered at one end like a wedge of pie. The previous occupants installed dark wood molding on the walls, among other grim, claustrophobic touches. It was a challenge that we embraced as our first ever restaurant design.

The walls are now a combination of reclaimed white ash and exposed brick. The new bar is made of polished marble and the café tables are well spaced and fitted with comfortable designer chairs covered in hand-sewn leather. The narrow space is outfitted, with squash-colored banquettes and Lyle Owerko’s blown-up photographs of vintage boomboxes shot like Avedon portraits.