Imperial Chinese Kitchen
A client came to us with an ambitious vision to launch four restaurants at once with a quick-serve concept spun off from a traditional Chinese restaurant that had been in Denver for decades. We started by looking at other quick-serve restaurants in the area and quickly noticed a trend of bright red, black, and gold and endeavored to have a concept that would stand out from the crowd. We wanted the new restaurants to have a modern feel but still have ties to the original restaurant so we looked for inspiration from some more traditional elements. In particular, we found our color pallet while looking at vintage Chinese clay teapots. I modeled the restaurants in SketchUp with assistance from my colleague and our team used the first location’s model as a collaborative workspace to come to a final design and create a company-wide brand standard that could be transferred to the other spaces. Upon receiving client approval I finalized all the construction documents, from completing the code analysis to drawing all of the details that would bring the interiors to life. After a final set of redlines, we submitted for a permit and received architectural approvals with no comments from all four jurisdictions. Construction is set to begin in fall 2024.
