An Entrepreneur’s Path to Restaurant Design
Peter was excited to have chosen a Fast-Casual Bistro as the perfect fit for his restaurant dream. With a prime downtown location, he aimed to attract customers seeking a quick lunch or a cozy dinner. However, to achieve this desired space, he faced a challenging question. How do you integrate modern design trends while staying aligned with your lifestyle? Peter was an outdoor enthusiast who valued health, wellness, and simplicity. He wanted to seek trends that reflected his love for nature, sustainability, and fresh home-cooked meals.
As he began the design process, he discovered that restaurant design often mirrors broader societal shifts, emphasizing sustainability, energy efficiency, and innovation. Luckily many of these larger trends are linked to his outdoorsy lifestyle. This sparked a goal to create a welcoming, cost-effective space that both expressed his passion for the outdoors and could evolve with these future trends. However, with so many aspects of interior design, a full vision of the space could not come overnight.
Here are the key trends and benefits that Peter needed to think through as he began to create his restaurant concept:
Sustainable Design
With the emerging awareness of environmental impacts and available natural resources, eco-conscious design is becoming more mainstream. This trend focuses on a wide range of practices including using renewable, recycled, and reclaimed materials, such as locally sourced wood, and implementing designs that support zero-waste. Incorporating energy-efficient equipment like HVAC systems, occupant sensory-controlled LED lighting, and water-saving fixtures are also essential sustainable practices. Additionally, many of these practices have the added benefit of reducing operational costs. In fact, according to the Green Restaurant Association, implementing sustainable elements save an average 30% reduction in energy costs. Alternatively, as the technology for re-creating patterns, textures, and colors advances, using faux materials such as vinyl wood-looking plank flooring is becoming increasingly popular, helping to reduce the impact on natural resources. Sustainable measures appeal to customers who value green practices and saving money, while not changing the aesthetic intent of the dining environment.
Biophilic, Comfort, and Wellness Design
With an increasing awareness of the health benefits associated with spending time outdoors, creating spaces that connect people with nature has become more popular. This design style aims to enhance the physical and mental well-being of patrons and staff alike. Biophilic design philosophy focuses on bringing the outdoors inside.
This starts with open spaces and maximizing natural light through large windows, glass doors, and, when possible, skylights. Then indoor plants, green walls, and outdoor views of nature are added to make the space feel more organic. For finishes, there is a large emphasis on natural materials such as wood, stone, and natural fibers. Organic shapes, patterns, textures, and color palettes that reflect natural forms along with water features like fountains, aquariums, or art can also be added to create a calming effect. Lastly, Ergonomic seating, noise-reducing acoustics, enhanced air filtration, and soft ambient lighting are essential for creating a warm, inviting environment that enhances comfort, wellness, and the dining experience.
Flexible and Multi-Functional Spaces
Restaurants are increasingly adopting adaptable spaces. These spaces allow for maximizing utility, accommodating individual diners and larger groups comfortably. They can also be used for hosting a wide range of events, co-working spaces, and community gatherings. These rooms are achieved by seamlessly blending indoor and outdoor spaces, utilizing movable partitions, modular furniture, community tables, and versatile seating arrangements. These elements not only allow the space to transform for different events and functions throughout the day but also maintain support for both dine-in and takeout operations efficiently.
Open Kitchens
Another huge trending element is the open kitchen. Diners crave transparency, not just in the sourcing of ingredients but in how their meals are made. This element provides diners a front row seat to the culinary process. Now, what was once a behind-the-scenes operation, has now transformed into an added entertaining element to the dining experience.
Color Trends
Colors play a crucial role in setting the mood of a restaurant. They are shaped by their type, theme, cultural heritage, and consumer preferences. Many unique trends are circulating, all of which have their refined expression. For example, earthy, organic tones can create a calming feel, while bold jewel tones give off an aura of luxury and sophistication. Vibrant accents like yellows and oranges energize spaces, while tropical hues add playfulness. Additionally, Soft pastels can offer a feeling of serenity, while monochromatic, black-and-white schemes create modern minimalism. Lastly, dark, moody palettes can evoke a feeling of intimacy and drama. Balancing bold and neutral colors with accent walls or focal points helps enhance the dining experience while ensuring the colors reflect the restaurant’s theme and concept.
Cultural Heritage, Art, and Authenticity
As consumers seek out unique products and experiences with a story behind them, infusing local cultural elements into a site has become very popular. When creating a unique environment, expressing both the local culture of the area and the restaurant is the most important goal. By doing so, the restaurant can reflect the community while preserving its own unique identity. Using local art, authentic materials, design details, and craftsmanship helps tell the story of the location, expressing the local culture and history. Then to express the restaurant’s theme and heritage, elements like murals, sculptures, and unique installations made by local artists help integrate the two cultures. Adding this local flair enhances visual appeal, reflects the restaurant’s theme and heritage, fosters community, and creates Instagram-worthy moments that boost social media presence and marketing impact
Integration of Technology
As the rate of new technology increases, so too will it be integrated into restaurant design. It has become essential for designers to utilize new technologies within restaurants to increase the speed and convenience of service and make it part of the everyday experience. Many have achieved such a feat through services like contactless dining, using digital ordering kiosks, QR code systems, and internet connectivity at the table. Additionally, the use of Augmented Reality (AR) is also increasingly popular for everything from touchless ordering and living and changing art scrapes.
A strategic investment in thoughtful interior design not only enhances aesthetics, but also boosts customer satisfaction, loyalty, and profitability. By staying current with design trends, Peter realized that a well-designed restaurant can create engaging, efficient, flexible, and sustainable spaces that meet the evolving expectations of modern diners.
Making inspiration a Reality
