Holycow! A Farm-to-Table Restaurant Design Concept by Spacehacks Studio

INTERIOR | EAT AND DRINK | SURABAYA | INDONESIA | 2022

One of the newest branches of Holycow! restaurant in Surabaya opened at Trans Icon Mall last August. This steakhouse brand, which has red as its color brand identity, wants to make this restaurant design have a more mature concept, not just a palpable application of the color of the brand identity. The owner also wants the design of their restaurant this time to adjust the surroundings where the existing of this restaurant is located, which is close to a hotel with an art nouveau concept.

Spacehacks Studio, which was founded in 2018 by David Tan Kayogi as the principal designer and Dary Haydar Rifqi as the project manager, tried to solve problems and client requests by using the “farm-to-table” concept. The concept was created on the basis that when visitors eat at the restaurant they can feel the atmosphere of eating a meal with those closest to them, like when celebrating harvests in villages. However, even though they have a harvest concept, they want the atmosphere of this restaurant to still feel modern because this restaurant is in a mall. It is from this concept that earth colors such as brown are applied to the wall, wood on the furniture, and terrazzo as table tops. Dried plant decorations are also added to support the concept.

The walls in the foyer area and the back of the dining area are made based on the typical forms of the art nouveau style, which has organic forms, unlike the art deco style, which is more geometric in shape. To match current design trends, the organic forms of the art nouveau style have been simplified to make it feel more modern.

The thing that got me interested in the design of this restaurant at first was the ceiling design. The restaurant ceiling design has five different levels where the shapes are quite complex.

“At first, we were halfhearted to give the ceiling some treatments because of the client’s request that they want there to be a chandelier on every table,” explained David Tan Kayogi, worried that the ceiling design would become too packed. “However, after we broke it down and we simulated the design in a 3D model, it turned out that the ceiling treatment was still needed because the existing ceiling was quite high.”

After consideration above, the arch shape and down ceiling around the indoor area was decided to be made. This is intended to create a more intimate atmosphere for visitors who come.

“Moreover, we also apply different heights to the ceiling with the same basic shape. We also added some shadow lines and hidden lamps on the ceiling as an embellishment,” added David.

The furniture in this restaurant was specially designed for this project and manufactured by contractors trusted by Spacehacks Studio. David also stated that they were happy with the work of the contractors they used so the ceiling design which was quite complicated could be realized properly.

Holycow! restaurant is the first food and beverage design that Spacehacks Studio has worked on. Previously, Spacehacks Studio mostly worked on residential projects such as houses and apartments. They enjoyed the process of designing and building this restaurant project because as we know it is different from residential projects, public space projects such as restaurants can be a place for designers to explore ideas further and more unique design concepts.

“We don’t want to be known as a studio that only focuses on one type of building. We have a goal to change a space optimally through a certain concept approach, according to our name, Spacehacks.”