Dezeen Magazine

Biennale Interieur 2014 award winners realise bar concepts at Kortrijk Xpo

Interieur 2014: the winners of the spaces category at this year's Interieur Awards have built their concept bar proposals in the halls of Kortrijk Xpo for the biennial design event.

Restaurant and bar concepts at Kortrijk Xpo Interieur 2014
This image: Behind the Curtain, photograph by Wouter Van Vaerenbergh.  Main image: Dried Chat Room, photograph by Francesca Perani

For each edition of Biennale Interieur, designers are asked to submit innovative concepts for bars that will provide food and drink for visitors at the Kortrijk Xpo site as part of the Interieur Awards programme.

This year, four projects were selected from 70 entries to be constructed and to serve food and drink for the duration of the event, which continues until 26 October.

Restaurant and bar concepts at Kortrijk Xpo Interieur 2014
Behind the Curtain, photograph by Filip Dujardin

Belgian designers Jasper Stevens and Karel Verstraeten suspended a sheet of grey fabric to snake over and around long marble tables, forming niches that house separate dining areas.

Restaurant and bar concepts at Kortrijk Xpo Interieur 2014
Behind the Curtain, photograph by Bart Kiggen

Named Behind the Curtain, the bar in Hall 6 is illuminated by gold and black pendant lights and furnished with white wooden chairs.

Restaurant and bar concepts at Kortrijk Xpo Interieur 2014
Gelato Meccanico, photograph by Bart Kiggen

Also harnessing a curtain is an Italian team comprising Davide Fabio Colaci, Lula Ferrari and TourDeFork together with Laura Doardo, Ludovica Niero and Marco Savini.

The group's Gelato Meccanico concept is based on handmade ice cream made on-site using old technologies, with visitors invited to make their own flavours.

The copper-coloured curtain runs in a circle to create a storage area, with a neon sign spelling out the bar's name above the equipment used to make the desserts.

Restaurant and bar concepts at Kortrijk Xpo Interieur 2014
Dried Chat Room, photograph by Francesca Perani

Another Italian collective, formed of Alberto Artesani and Frederik De Wachter of DWA, and Francesca Perani and Sandra Marchesi of Spectacularch designed the Dried Chat Room.

Situated in Hall 4, the wooden serving area and long tables are positioned beneath a grid of hanging shimmering gold and silver-coloured sheets that are patterned like fish skins.

The stand serves cuisine from multiple cultures and traditions for diners who can relax on felt-covered chairs.

Restaurant and bar concepts at Kortrijk Xpo Interieur 2014
Gone Fishing, photograph by Bart Kiggen

Gone Fishing is a sustainable seafood concept by Swedish team Charlotte Ryberg, Fritz Håkon Halvorsen and Marcia Harvey Isaksson.

Restaurant and bar concepts at Kortrijk Xpo Interieur 2014
Gone Fishing, photograph by Bart Kiggen

Their design follows a nautical theme, with fishing nets draped over the heads of diners who sit on curved blue seats that reference rolling waves.

Spherical lights are suspended above the tables in more nets to look like buoys.

Restaurant and bar concepts at Kortrijk Xpo Interieur 2014
Photograph by Filip Dujardin

The winning designs were chosen by a jury that included head of bathroom brand Axor, Philippe Grohe, food design collective Arabeschi di Latte founder Francesca Sarti, Paris-based designer and interior architect Noé Duchaufour Lawrance and Biennale Interieur president Lowie Vermeersch.