Joshua Zinder Architecture + Design Partners With World-Renowned Chef Tetsuya Wakuda To Launch New Restaurant At The Marina Bay Sands Resort And Casino In Singapore

PRINCETON, N.J., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Joshua Zinder Architecture + Design LLC (JZA+D), a full-service, multi-disciplined architecture and design firm, is designing Waku Ghin, a modern, 8,000 square-foot restaurant at The Marina Bay Sands Resort and Casino in Singapore for one of the world's most elite chefs, Tetsuya Wakuda.  Seeking a dynamic, refined dining experience, Chef Wakuda has tapped JZA+D to create an environment rich in tone and texture to complement his divine, multi-dimensional cuisine. Waku Ghin - a name that pays homage to the "silver metal" cooking surfaces and the knives in his collection - is slated to open this summer and marks Chef Wakuda's first restaurant venture outside of Australia.

Guests entering Waku Ghin from the casino floor of the Marina Bay Sands first take notice of the sake bar and caviar lounge.  Here, sheets of flowing, silky fabric, inspired by the dresses of American fashion designer Mary McFadden, hang to create a soft, illuminated ceiling. The furniture in this space - also designed by JZA+D - balances warm tones against the cool metallic plaster and Mother of Pearl used on the wall surfaces.  

Beyond the bar and lounge, the grand hall serves as the restaurant's epicenter - a space that unifies the entire dining experience.  The corridor walls are manipulated to be curving and sinuous, echoing the work of American minimalist sculptor, Richard Serra. This approach takes advantage of the compressed nature of the space, turning what could have been a narrow passage into a dynamic centerpiece.  Accenting the grand hall, the carpet design draws inspiration from undulating forms of folded steel in one of the knives from Tetsuya's collection.  Complementary small wall niches throughout the hall hold works of art from Chef Wakuda's collection.

"The grand hall is the element that spatially ties together the multiple dining experiences of Waku Ghin," said Joshua Zinder, principal of JZA+D.  "We saw an opportunity to bring a sculptural element to the restaurant's design even as we were faced with an irregularly shaped space due to the established kitchen and an adjacent restaurant.  We feel this approach fits with Tetsuya's passion for artistic forms as well as his culinary philosophy."

Along the left side of the grand hall, guests can enter a series of private dining rooms wrapped in rich Nyatoh wood.  These spaces create an air of intimacy as small parties become privy to the skilled maneuvers of the chefs preparing food in front of them on steel cooking plates, meticulously rubbed and ground down to create the perfect cooking surface.