SEPT 2019_ _ 051_FocusTK FocusFocus
Ceilings
EDITOR _Kendra Jackson Transformative installations and standout sound absorbers
Designed by gh3* and
constructed by Unique
Store Fixtures, the eight-
sided, pre-dyed oak
veneer ceiling is made up
of 265 individual pieces
seamlessly milled together.
Dark wood. Fine leather. Shiny hits of bling.
Chase Hospitality Group’s wish list for their latest
Toronto venture, Arthur’s Restaurant, initially
included all of the staple ingredients for a traditional
steakhouse. But rather than just emulating an old
country club, the group’s design team, gh3*, sought
to combine this time-honoured palette with the more
modern, geometric character of the restaurant’s
setting, an octagonal podium at the base of a 1970s
office tower.
The local architecture firm’s skilful blend of
sharp angles and suave sophistication is epitomized
by the project’s showpiece: an eight-sided, nearly
12.5-metre-wide wood and bronze ceiling sculpture.
Impressively, this gemlike construct also integrates
sprinklers, speakers and spotlights – all the while
looking as seamless as a cut-crystal tumbler.
Credit for the design’s clean millwork goes to
Unique Store Fixtures, which created 265 individual
pieces using Tabu’s pre-dyed Italian oak veneer and
assembled them into 24 sections (after first creating
a full-scale mock-up with particle board). “Software
took us so far,” explains Marco Corrente, the fabrica-
tion studio’s vice president. “But it’s difficult to model
compound angles, so it was necessary to stage it so
we could fine-tune it.”
To keep screws out of sight, the componentsGH3* DEVISES A KALEIDOSCOPIC
FOCAL POINT FOR A SIZZLING NEW
STEAKHOUSE IN TORONTO
WORDS _Eric Mutrie
PHOTOGRAPH _Raymond Chow
were internally mitred together in the shop.
These were then moved on site and raised into place
one at a time to form the eight triangular clusters of
three subsections, outfitted with the necessary pipes
and wires and attached to one another by hidden
custom brackets. The entire four-tonne creation is sus-
pended by an engineered Unistrut system of threaded
rods that attach to these brackets, allowing for a perim-
eter reveal accentuated by moody cove lighting while
still preventing the structure from swaying.
At its core, the ceiling opens up to a large void
encased within a vaulted bronze volume hung from
a chandelier lift to allow easy access to the mechanical
units above. By sloping down toward this central
element, with its tessellated pattern growing increas-
ingly dense in its inner rings, the structure introduces
a sense of intimacy in the soaring dining room.
“People always say that it’s the edges of a restaurant
that feel cozy,” says Shawna Seligman, an intern
architect at gh3*. “This brings that feeling to the
centre banquettes, which usually feel too exposed.”
And while these tufted banquettes’ mustard yellow
leather may catch the eye, furniture is kept to the
same low height to keep most of the attention on the
one-of-a-kind wonder above, a rare sight indeed.
gh3.ca, uniquestorefixtures.comA Rare
Fixture