UdA is an architectural and design firm founded in 1992 in Turin, Italy. Its projects present ultrasophisticated

architectures, with strong attention to sensory perceptions, materials, light and surfaces, showing the firm’s strong interest in inquiring the complex relationships between man and space, between man and object.
‘Niño’, a restaurant, is UdA’s first project in a Persian Gulf country....read more

UdA is an architectural and design firm founded in 1992 in Turin, Italy. Its projects present ultrasophisticated

architectures, with strong attention to sensory perceptions, materials, light and surfaces, showing the firm’s strong interest in inquiring the complex relationships between man and space, between man and object.
‘Niño’, a restaurant, is UdA’s first project in a Persian Gulf country. The entire geographic area continues to experience powerful transformational dynamics, with rapid changes in economic and urban patterns. The firm was awarded the contract for the construction of a new building to house two restaurants in a newly urbanised area of Manama City, the capital of Bahrain. UdA viewed the project as a first entry to the regional context; an opportunity to carefully consider the urban and cultural dynamics underway throughout the Gulf nations.
The same local actor was the investor for both the construction of the building and the installation of the larger of the two restaurants, which was to be conformed to the business model of an Italian chain, introduced in the Gulf region for the first time. The building site is located towards the north coast of Bahrain near a main road to Saudi Arabia, in a row of buildings flanked by a major shopping centre, a secondary street and parking areas.
The immediate task was to address two main architectural themes: the overall structural arrangement and the functionality of the restaurant.
The building works as a container for what UdA considers to be a core activity in the national economy: a particular type of tourism. Bahrain is an island country that offers leisure destinations to citizens of nearby Saudi Arabia. Visitors will come for as little as a few days or a weekend, as well as for resort stays. For the local residents, particularly the younger generations, shopping centres and restaurants are the settings for social encounters and important events.
Planning for the building and its restaurant functions thus becomes an exercise in interpreting local and regional ways of life. The focus on dealing with these realities is illustrated in the building’s external form, the alternating irony and functional practicality of exterior and interior design, and in the precise use of materials and surface finishes, down to the level of table service and decoration. While irony and humour are present, the project includes an important aspect of serious discussion, offering a counter-argument to the somewhat vernacular interpretation of the ‘global restaurant’, as frequently seen in the region.
The building exterior is one of absolute simplicity, emphasizing horizontal planes and uniform surfaces that recall the region’s desert landscapes.
The structural form is a closed cube, surfaced in white, interrupted by only a few voids and projecting volumes executed in the raw colour of Corten steel. The interruptions in the cube offer small oasis-like zones.
While referencing the broader region, the building integrates thoroughly with the immediate urban streetscape, somehow blending with the background: a mix of ostentatious and anonymous structures and spaces. However the building achieves elegance and indulges in elements of ornament: the surfaces are treated in white on white relief, creating a ‘calligraphic’ effect that recalls the specific traditions of Arabic architectural decoration. The front façade presents the restaurant name in giant English and Arabic script while the rear, facing the city street, repeats the name, thus adapting and respecting the traditions of regional architecture. Another prominent element is represented by the massive entrance fixtures in Corten
steel. The volume of the entrance is projecting from the edge of the prospectus as to highlight its presence
and almost entice you to enter.
The interior is executed in high-quality finishes, with treated concrete floors, custom-designed furniture and gigantograph images that reference Italian cooking and ingredients. Careful attention is also given to window treatments, lighting and the design of restaurant work stations. The space is fluid, free for movement and without screens which limit the view. The various areas are well defined and enable different degrees of privacy. The different types, sizes and locations of tables and chairs help prevent the monotony and simultaneously to characterize the different spaces. The basic neutral tones of vertical and horizontal margins, walls, ceiling and floor, and furnishings are contrasted by the bright colours of the images and objects: cans, bottles and jars placed in different environments and iterated refer to pop icons. The complex interaction of all the elements that compose the project creates a warm and comfortable place where the rigor and linearity of architectural edges and furnishings are balanced by the playfulness of the images and objects. Nothing is left to chance, even the tablecloths and dishes are custom designed. It's a form of total project in which the authors in fact realize the architectural envelope, study the dynamics of the interior space and are interested in the design of smaller objects.
The element typology changes but the design mode remains identical.
This project by UdA integrates fully with the local and regional context, but particularly with the interiors and it also retells the Italian story in a contemporary setting, liberated of folkloric stereotypes. The Italian spirit also comes to life thanks to the quality of the furnishings and finishes.
The purpose of the project has been achieved: it tells the characteristics of the typical food in a cultured way, keeping in mind the specificity of the place and establishing a relationship between different realities that are starting to dialogue.