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Padded Perimeter | Bar & Club

application

In bar and club design Padded Perimeter is applied as multiples of square or rectangular padded panels or tubes, or button-tufted surfaces, that cover an entire wall surface. 

research

Padded Perimeter has been identified in two practice types: Restaurants and Hotels. In restaurant design, it manifests itself most often as the back of a long upholstered banquette that encompasses one or more walls; it acts as a low three-dimensional wall. In hotel guest room design, Padded Perimeter occurs as an embellished element to draw attention to the bed or alcove, thus giving the bed greater visual weight within the room.

Origins of Padded Surfaces in Bars & Nightclubs 

A padded bar front is not a Padded Perimeter. However, photographic evidence suggests that a padded bar front preceded Padded Perimeter, developing as early as the decade of 1920, a time period which included "the roaring twenties", the Great Depression and Prohibition a result of "drinking oneself under the table." The padded bar front developed in both stand-alone establishments, and those found within restaurants and hotels; a padded front drew attention to the bar.2 

The Stardust Casino Bar (1959) is a padded bar front and booths that begin to become architectural. The Stardust, the largest bar and club venue in Las Vegas during the late 1950s time period, featured an elongated serpentine bar. Its designer, Jac Lessman, added a curve that wrapped the padded and button-tufted surface around to the back of the room. Most importantly, the Stardust's booths incorporated the padded, tufted, half-wall so that almost all of the perimeter walls were padded.3

Chronological Sequence 

The Decade of 1970

Two examples of Padded Perimeter, one at the beginning of the decade and one at the end, established a new strategy for wall-plane treatments in bars and nightclubs. The Le Monde (1971) and the Stardust (1978) gave substance to the mundane bar front and took it to new heights. 

The remarkable bar in the Le Monde Restaurant (1971), located in Eero Saarien's TWA Terminal in New York City, is a prime example of the Padded Perimeter Intype. The surface, created by weaving and shaping red yarn, became a high relief wool tapestry that defined entire wall planes. It was emphasized with a soft down-light that brought depth and shadow to the planar surface. This strikingly red Padded Perimeter also absorbed the sounds of clanking glasses and socializing.4 Warren Platner's wall treatment was widely disseminated to other designers through publication in Interior Design and Architectural Record.

Le Rende-Vous Restaurant (1978), one of which was the bar area. The Bottoms Up5 figure consists of padded tubular rolls upholstered in suede vinyl that linearly define the bar front and the cornice suspended above the bar counter. Additionally, various alcoves in the lounge area receive this same treatment.6  The Le Rende-Vous is an excellent example of the genesis of the Intype. The origins of the padded bar front are evident, but now the architectural plane of the niche is also padded, leading up to the padded walls that appear in upcoming decades.

A year later, the bar in Tuttle's Restaurant in Miami reiterates a similar volumetric to the padded and   upholstered linear rolls of the Le Rende-Vous. In Tuttle's, however, Padded Perimeter is full bodied, defining all walls of the dining-disco area, including the DJ booth. Architect Carson Bennett Wright chose the color and sculptural texture to express "romance, fantasy and temporary escape from the problems of everyday life." This concept focused his efforts on how patrons might want to feel in the installation. The curvilinear forms again play a role in softening a space both visually and tactilely.7

The Decade of 1980

Two robust examples of Padded Perimeter emerged in the 1980 decade; both emphasized a gridded panel, rather than a diamond-shaped button-tufting. In Miami's City Club (1987), designed by Victor Frankel of Rita St. Clair Associates, a soft Padded Perimeter contrasts with the metal cornice above the bar. In 1989, Philippe Stark's renovation for Manhattan's Bar 44 in the lobby of the Royalton Hotel, included Padded Perimeter in a concave lounge space. The entire wall was executed in tufted, cerulean velvet.

The Decade of 1990

The bar in the Stardust-Sangu Restaurant (1994) in Osaka, Japan is the first outstanding example of the use of Padded Perimeter outside of the United States. The restaurant is comprised of a series of bars and lounges on the top floor of architect Hiroshi Hara's Umeda Sky Building, one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. Two photographs published in Architectural Record show Padded Perimeter in the bar lounge and the lobby entrance as a convex wall behind an upholstered slightly curved bench seat. The design team experimented with contrasts in soft versus hard materials, illumination versus dimness. In both images, Padded Perimeter constitutes the wall against a smooth, hard floor. 

A more conventional application of Padded Perimeter appears in Vinyl (1997), a bar in the Old Town district of Chicago. The name of the club represents the now-historic vinyl records that a Disc Jockey would spin in a booth. In the lounge space upstairs, designer Thomas Schlesser employs a Padded Perimeter for the entire wall, which also doubled as the back for the bench seat component. The Padded Perimeter wall is canted somewhat to provide a more natural back for sitting. It is upholstered with large blue squares. A glowing, inset bulb was installed on every other panel.9 

The Decades of 2000 and 2010 | Wall Installation

The decades of 2000 and 2010 ushered in a wide variety of experimentation and interpretation of Padded Perimeter. The practice continues unabated as a dramatic architectural treatment for entire wall surfaces, often in large spaces. 

In 2001 when Jeffrey Beers designed the cellar lounge space for the Tuscan Restaurant in New York City, he departed from the upstairs dining space that reflects "rustic Florentine culture" with ancient stone replicas and photographs. The lounge design includes eclectic materials, such as emerald colored acrylic wall tiles and a Carrera marble bar counter. Into this mixture, the Padded Perimeter is rendered in iridescent vinyl. The padded panels appear in various sizes, assembled like a jigsaw puzzle.10

The bar and restaurant of the Chambers Hotel (2001) provides an excellent illustration of Padded Perimeter used as a wall strategy in a multi-story space. Chambers was the first boutique hotel built from the ground up by David Rockwell (Rockwell Group) in collaboration with Lawrence Adams (architect of Adams Soffes Wood). Hoteliers Ira Drukier and Richard Born anticipated the spaces within the hotel to be informal, loft-like atmospheres. The sub-terrainian restaurant is adjacent to the bar and lounge that overlooks the lobby. Padded Perimeter is achieved with acoustical panels upholstered in suede. The wall suggests a soft, textural element.11

The Infiniti Room in the VP Lounge of Le Meridien Hotel (2003) makes the most dramatic architectural interpretation of Padded Perimeter, primarily because of the size of the installation, but also the saturated red color of the entire space. The interior design firm Yabu Pushelberg (YP) padded the walls in blood-red wool linear tubes and rectangles. YP is also the first design firm to merge the seat and the wall, so that from a distance it is difficult to separate the two. The differentiating factor between the padded walls and the padded seating is the density of the textile used for the upholstery. The first two rolls act as reclined backing for the seating element while the rest of the segments become wider and less dense as the padding scales the wall. Pushelberg notes that the design was aimed to "condition emotions by manipulating the volumes and materials" in the spaces, such as the ceiling plane dropped to mimic the furniture arrangement, identifying designated lounge areas and scaling down the space for a personal experience.12 

Equally dramatic is the design for Cielo, a state-of-the-art space in New York's chic Meat Packing District that provides a music program specializing in electronic music. In 2004 The International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show named Cielo a finalist for its Gold Key, an award for excellence in hospitality design. Dupoux Design created plush, velvet-upholstered walls to line the edge of the entire space, including the majority of the seating options, bar front and ceiling. Bright strips of light glow between the rolling segmented pads; the lighting highlights the pads' dimension and depth.13

The final example of Padded Perimeter as a large wall installation is the B.lounge (2006) in Graz, Austria. In this case, Padded Perimeter is applied to every surface but the bar front. Architect Reiner Schmid envisioned the restaurant as one that could easily transition into a night-time lounge after the kitchen closed. Padded Perimeter was applied as smooth, square leather panels that contrasted with the dark wood flooring and tables. The gridded pattern and soft texture dominate the space; the blank face of the bar is a point of visual relief.14

The Decade of 2000s & 2010 | Intimate Space & Incubate

In the decades of 2000 and 2010 Padded Perimeter becomes a trait appropriated for intimate spaces. Four examples are presented in which designers combined the archetypical Padded Perimeter practice with another archetypical practice, Incubate15 in order to create intimate spaces. Incubate was developed as a Workplace strategy as a shared spatial unit that is isolated from a larger environment. These Padded Perimeter interpretations as Incubate begin in 2003 with the Avalon Nightclub. 

The industrial design and brand image firm, Desgrippes Gobe Group, established escapist themes for the Avalon Nightclub (2003) in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Although the 1840s Neo-Gothic church in which the club resides was stripped of it religious features, significant architectural elements, such as Gothic arches, were restored. Padded Perimeter appears in two lounge spaces within the club. The first one, on the third level, shows Incubate as a rectangular box with three sides. One side is left open to "see those on the outside looking in." The walls and ceiling are padded with plump rolls of brown polyester-nylon. The other occurrence of Padded Perimeter is a more conventional interpretation, a private area behind the DJ booth. A banquette bench with a button-tufted Padded Perimeter behind it contrasts with the smooth concrete floor, glass walls and wooden surfaces.16

Another bold example of Padded Perimeter as Incubate is the club and entertainment component of the French-Indian fusion restaurant Inde Bleu (2005) in Washington,DC. The architectural and interior design firm, Adamstein & Demetriou, designed a series of golden-orange Padded Perimeters that are the "main textural element" in the club. Staggered pillow-like archways that began as a bench, extended up the wall, creating a curved canopy at the ceiling plane. Each of the seating components was placed with its back to the wall looking out toward the club space, or turned toward each other, to create intimate booths.17

The Surrey boutique hotel in Manhattan attracts people from all parts of the city to its French restaurant Café Boulud and the Bar Pleiades (2010). During the 1970s and 1980s artists and fashion aficionados gathered at the restaurant. This history inspired Rottet Studio to create Incubate for each banquette setting. The face of each alcove is finished in black and white lacquer. Inside a gold quilted Padded Perimeter is meant to be "Coco Chanel-like". The design was the Best Lounge and Bar Winner of the 2010 Gold Key Award at the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show, and it also earned the Interior Design Best of the Year Award.18

In 2011 the Italian design firm OOBIQ created the VIP room of DROP as an incubated space using Padded Perimeter. The shapes and layout of the space were suggestive of a European interior transplanted into the rapidly developing streets of Shanghai. These juxtapositions in Incubate include two facing deep button-tufted red leather Chesterfield sofas reminiscent of historic men's clubs. Metallic silver is the modernized component for Padded Perimeter.19

Conclusion 

Despite all the evidence of the practice of a padded bar front, the Padded Perimeter (wall) seems to emerge as whole cloth in the sophisticated 1971 bar of the Le Monde Restaurant that was designed by Warren Platner. The practice gained the most ground during an experimental period in the 1980 and 1990 period. For much of its history, Padded Perimeter in bars and clubs was frequently used as a dramatic architectural installation for large spaces. While this trait continues into the 2000 to 2010 era, it was appropriated logically for Incubate. Padded Perimeter demonstrates adaptability in scale, size, material and surface applications.20

end notes

  1. 1) Jasmin Cho, "Theory Studies: Archetypical Practices of Contemporary Restaurant Design," (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2009), 113-25; Nathan James Wasilewski, "Theory Studies: Archetypical Practices of Contemporary Hotel Design," (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2011), 104-20.
  2. 2) Idiom: drink someone under the table; to continue drinking and remain sober (or comparatively so) after one's companion has completely collapsed. "Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd edition," (Cambridge University Press, 2006); Martin M. Pegler, Designing the World's Best Bars (New York: Visual Reference Publishing, Inc  2005), 7.
  3. 3) The Stardust Casino Bar [1959] Jac Lessman, design; Las Vegas, NV in Anonymous, "Schafer Bros Furniture," Interior Design 30, no. 10 (Oct. 1959): 249; PhotoCrd: Anonymous, Advertisement for Schafer Bros.
  4. 4) Le Monde Restaurant [1971] Warren Planter, Kevin Roche John Dinkleloo and Associates; TWA terminal, JFK Int'l Airport, New York, NY in Anonymous, "Le Monde," Interior Design 42, no. 4 (Apr. 1971): 138; PhotoCrd: Alexandre Georges.
  5. 5) The Intype Bottoms Up (Top Down) is an architectural element comprised of a significant cornice above, and a corresponding counter below, that frame a spatial void for service function activities between them. Bottoms Up is used in retail as a cash wrap, in the workplace as a reception desk, in cafes as a coffee counter and in clubs as a bar. Carla Wells, "Theory Studies: Archetypical Bar and Nightclub Design Practices in Contemporary Interior Design," (M.A. Cornell University, 2012), 47-68.
  6. 6) Le Rende-Vous Restaurant [1978] Spiros Zakas; Chicago, IL in Anonymous, "Le Rende-Vous," Interior Design 49, no. 4 (Apr. 1978): 208-11; PhotoCrd: Idaka.
  7. 7) Bar, Tuttle's Restaurant [1979] Carson Bennett Wright; Miami, FL in Anonymous, "Tuttle's Restaurant," Interior Design 50, no. 1 (Jan 1979): 206-09; PhotoCrd: Hedrich-Blessing.
  8. 8) City Club [1987] Spills Candela & Partners; Southeast Financial Center , Miami, FL in Anonymous, "Club Design," Interior Design 58, no. 7 (Jul. 1987): 242-45; PhotoCrd: Dan Forer; Royalton Hotel Bar [1989] Philippe Starck, Gruzen Samton Steinglass; New York City in Anonymous, "Rags to Riches," Architectural Record 177, no. 3 (Mar. 1989): 94-99; PhotoCrd: Elliot Kaufman.
  9. 9) Vinyl Bar [1930 original, 1997 renovation] Thomas Schlesser; Chicago, IL in Monica Geran, "Drawn to Scale," Interior Design 68, no. 10 (Oct. 1997): 142-45; PhotoCrd: Bob Briskey.
  10. 10) Tuscan Steak Restaurant [2001] Jeffrey Beers; New York City in Monica Geran, "A Modern Renaissance," Interior Design 72, No. 6 (Jun. 2001): 188-91; PhotoCrd: Peter Paige.
  11. 11) Chambers Hotel, Bar [2001] Rockwell Group; New York City in Jen Renzi, "Site Specific," Interior Design 72, no. 8 (Aug. 2001): 231-34; PhotoCrd: David Joseph.
  12. 12) Infiniti Room, VIP Lounge, Le Meridien Hotel [2003] Yabu Pushelberg; Minneapolis, MN in Kendell Cronstrom, "Wonder Twin Power," Interior Design 74, no. 12 (Oct. 2003): 242-45. PhotoCrd: David Joseph Photography.
  13. 13) Cielo Club [2004] Dupoux Design; New York City in Anonymous, "Gold Key Awards," Interior Design 75, no. 10 (Oct. 2004): 72; PhotoCrd: Anonymous.
  14. 14) Blounge  [2006] Reiner Schmid, architect; Graz, Australia in Marta Serrats, Bar Design (New York: Daab, 2006), 300-07; PhotoCrd: Angelo Kaunat. 
  15. 15) The Intype Incubate is a shared spatial unit that is isolated from a larger environment. It serves as a transitory office or small meeting area where conversation occurs and ideas develop. Shuqing Yin,"Theory Studies: Archetypical Workplace Practices in Contemporary Interior Design," (M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2011): 160-75. The Interior Archetypes Research and Teaching Project, Cornell University, www.intypes.cornell.edu, (accessed Nov. 20, 2011).
  16. 16) Avalon Nightclub [2003] Desgrippes Gobe Group; Chelsea, New York, NY in Stephen F. Milioti, "Back in the Limelight," Interior Design 74, no. 9 (Sept. 2003): 250-55; PhotoCrd: John Horner.
  17. 17) Inde Bleu [2005] Adamstein & Demetriou; Washington, D.C. in Pegler, Designing the World's Best Bars, 16-17; PhotoCrd: Theo Adamstein. 
  18. 18) Bar Pleiades, The Surrey Hotel [2010] Rottet Studio; New York City in Nicholas Tamarin, "Best of the Year 2010: Bar-Lounge," Interior Design Web Archives (Dec. 2010); PhotoCrd: Eric Laignel; Bar Pleiades, The Surrey Hotel in "The Surrey," http://www.thesurrey.com/New-York-Luxury-Hotel.aspx?name=The-Surrey&page=Lounge (accessed Aug. 23, 2011).
  19. 19) DROP [2011] DROP and OOBIQ Design; Shanghai, China in Tony Smyth, "DROP Shanghai," Hotel Design, (May 2011): 20-21; PhotoCrd: DROP Hong Kong.
  20. 20) Evidence for the use and the chronological sequence of Padded Perimeter as a bar and nightclub archetype was developed from the following sources: 1970 Le Monde Restaurant [1971] Warren Planter, Kevin Roche John Dinkleloo and Associates; TWA terminal, JFK Int'l Airport, New York City in Anonymous, "Le Monde," Interior Design 42, no. 4 (Apr. 1971): 138; PhotoCrd: Alexandre Georges. / Le Monde Restaurant [1971] Warren Planter, Kevin Roche John Dinkleloo and Associates; TWA terminal, JFK Int'l Airport, New York City in Anonymous, "Le Monde," Architectural Record, no. 164 (Oct. 1971): 78; PhotoCrd: Alexandre Georges. / Le Rende-Vous Restaurant [1978] Spiros Zakas; Chicago, IL in Anonymous, "Le Rende-Vous," Interior Design 49, no. 4 (Apr. 1978): 208, 210; PhotoCrd: Idaka. / Tuttle's Restaurant, Bar [1979] Carson Bennett Wright; Miami, FL in Anonymous, "Tuttle's Restaurant," Interior Design 50, no. 1 (Jan 1979): 209; PhotoCrd: Hedrich-Blessing; [1980] City Club [1987] Spills Candela & Partners; Southeast Financial Center; Miami, FL in Anonymous, "Club Design," Interior Design 58, no. 7 (Jul. 1987): 242-45; PhotoCrd: Dan Forer. / Royalton Hotel Bar [1989] Philippe Starck, Gruzen Samton Steinglass; New York City in Anonymous, "Rags to Riches," Architectural Record 177, no. 3 (Mar. 1989): 94-99; PhotoCrd: Elliot Kaufman; / 1990  Stardust-Sangu Restaurant [1994] Hiroshi Hara + Atelier and Interspace Time; Osaka, Japan in Clifford A. Pearson, "Lighting; High Wire Act," Architectural Record 182, no. 2 (Feb.1994): 36, 38; PhotoCrd: Nacasa & Partners.  / Vinyl Bar [1930 original, 1997 renovation] Thomas Schlesser; Chicago, IL in Monica Geran, "Drawn to Scale," Interior Design 68, no. 10 (Oct. 1997): 143; PhotoCrd: Bob Briskey; / 2000 Lounge, Tuscan Steak Restaurant [2001] Jeffrey Beers; New York City in Monica Geran, "A Modern Renaissance," Interior Design 72, No. 6 (Jun. 2001): 190; PhotoCrd: Peter Paige. / Bar, Chambers Hotel [2001] Rockwell Group; New York City in Jen Renzi, "Site Specific," Interior Design 72, no. 8 (Aug. 2001): 234; PhotoCrd: David Joseph. / Infiniti Room, VIP Lounge, Le Meridien Hotel [2003] Yabu Pushelberg; Minneapolis, MN in Kendell Cronstrom, "Wonder Twin Power," Interior Design 74, no. 12 (Oct. 2003): 245. PhotoCrd: David Joseph Photography.  / Cielo [2004] Dupoux Design; New York City in Anonymous, "Gold Key Awards," Interior Design 75, no. 10 (Oct. 2004): 72; PhotoCrd: Anonymous, Site Visit (Jan. 2010) / Blounge, Chameleon [2006] Reiner Schmid; Graz, Australia in Marta Serrats, Bar Design (New York: Daab, 2006), 300, 302; PhotoCrd: Angelo Kaunat / Avalon Nightclub [2003] Desgrippes Gobe Group; Chelsea, New York City in Stephen F. Milioti, "Back in the Limelight," Interior Design 74, no. 9 (Sept. 2003): 252, 254; PhotoCrd: John Horner / Inde Bleu [2005] Adamstein & Demetriou; Washington, D.C. in Martin M. Pegler, Designing the World's Best Bars (New York: Visual Reference Publishing, Inc. 2005), 17; PhotoCrd: Theo Adamstein; / 2010 Bar Pleiades, The Surrey Hotel [2010] Rottet Studio; New York City in Nicholas Tamarin, "Best of the Year 2010: Bar-Lounge," Interior Design Web Archives (Dec. 2010); PhotoCrd: Eric Laignel; Bar Pleiades, The Surrey Hotel in "The Surrey," http://www.thesurrey.com/New-York-Luxury-Hotel.aspx?name=The-Surrey&page=Lounge (accessed Aug. 23, 2011). / Drop [2011] Drop Shanghai, client; OOBIQ Design; Shanghai, China in Tony Smyth, "DROP Shanghai," Hotel Design (May 2011): 20; PhotoCrd: DROP Hong Kong.

bibliographic citations

1) The Interior Archetypes Research and Teaching Project, Cornell University, www.intypes.cornell.edu (accessed month & date, year).

2) Wells, Carla. "Theory Studies: Archetypical Bar and Nightclub Practices in Contemporary Interior Design." M.A. Thesis, Cornell University, 2012, 47-68.