Dezeen Magazine

Tree growing through steel pavilion roof

Restobar Mama is a brick-clad restaurant with a "carousel-like" canopy

Dutch architecture office KettingHuls has completed a restaurant pavilion in a park in Maastricht, featuring a circular steel canopy that allows trees to grow through its open structure.

The studio headed by architects Daniëlle Huls and Monica Ketting designed the Restobar Mama pavilion for the recently planned Vrijheidspark in the city's Maastricht-East district.

Circular steel restaurant pavilion
The pavilion is located in a recently planned park

The park was laid out in the Koningsplein area as part of the two-kilometre Groene Loper greenbelt that runs over the new A2 motorway.

Its landscaping by global firm West 8 features several oval green spaces, including one encircled by a low stone bench that marks the site of the pavilion.

Red brick restaurant with red metal roof
Its circular roof makes it resemble a carousel

The rectangular building stands in the centre of the oval and is topped with a circular steel structure that gives it what the architects described as its "carousel-like" appearance.

The pavilion rests on a round concrete terrace that provides space for outdoor seating. One facade is angled inwards and lined with full-height glazing to provide views out onto the park from within the restaurant.

Concrete benches on red brick restaurant
Concrete seating attached to the restaurant walls provide meeting spaces

Concrete benches that extend out from two of the building's other elevations provide meeting places for groups of runners or bootcamp participants.

Leftover terracotta bricks from the Janinhoff factory in Munich are applied to all of the facades. Their colour complements the red-painted steel canopy and the beige gravel hardscape surrounding the building.

Carousel-like red pavilion in Holland
Trees grow through beams on two sides of the building

Working with discarded materials meant there were no cornerstones or other specific shapes available, so some of the bricks were cut to the dimensions necessary to achieve the neat pattern and alignment with the concrete bench and windows.

The canopy projects out beyond the facades, with its triangular structure providing large spaces between the beams for trees on two sides to grow through.

"Inside, the steel construction of the canopy continues as a construction of wooden, laminated beams with a concrete column in the middle of the building," the architects pointed out, adding that the structure and trees can be decorated with lights, ornaments and climbing plants.

Interior of Restobar Mama restauramt
The interiors open up to the terrace outside

The front section of the interior is left open to accommodate a large seating area that is flooded with natural light entering through the glazed walls. Sliding doors allow this area to be opened up to the adjacent terrace.

The kitchen area is positioned between the central concrete pillar and angled windows to the rear. It is flanked on one side by the toilet block and on the other by a service area with steps leading down to a basement.

Steel and concrete restaurant interior with wood ceiling
The steel-clad kitchen is located behind a central concrete pillar

Solar panels covering the pavilion's roof generate the restaurant's power and a heat pump concealed behind a wooden grille to the rear of the building provides efficient heating.

Other recent brick buildings shared on Dezeen include a sports centre in Barcelona with a facade of both solid and perforated bricks and a Melbourne brick building with a steel- and glass extension.

Photography is by Stijn Bollaert.

More images

Exterior of restaurant in Vrijheidspark
Red brick facade with red steel roof
Restaurant with timber roof and concrete floor
Wooden ceiling and concrete pillar with plants
"Carousel"-style brick pavilion
Tree growing through steel pavilion roof
Pink chairs inside Dutch restaurant