46 APRIL 2019 COMMERCIALARCHITECTUREMAGAZINE.COM
shuffleboard, drink cocktails, and eat good food.”
Working with Tecture, Hamm succeeded in creating an engag-
ing environment that effortlessly blends interior and exterior,
pays homage to San Diego’s outdoor culture, and incorporates
design elements reminiscent of the neighborhood’s namesake.
“San Diego has one of the best climates in the country,”
Michael continued. “When designing this space, we wanted to
capitalize on that and truly blend the indoors and outdoors with
key architectural and design elements.”
In November 2017, Hamm purchased the 6,500-sq.-ft. proper-
ty and gutted it to create an open environment. During the reno-
vation he added an enormous 10-ft. x 60-ft. skylight, which has
become the space’s show-stopping feature.
“I put in this ridiculously big window at the top of the build-
ing, and it wasn’t until later that I realized it could be used to give
guests an experience that they cannot get at any other restaurant,
anywhere,” Hamm explained.
The team quickly came to realize that Nolita Hall lies right
underneath a flight path into San Diego International Airport, so
much so that planes fly overhead only a few hundred feet above
the ground. When they came to terms with the fact that sound
proofing the building wasn’t possible, they decided on the next
best thing: to fully embrace it.
Hamm turned to Oat Foundry, a Philadelphia-based engineer-
ing and design firm that specializes in classic train station-style
split-flap displays, to create a new, engaging experience that makes
the eatery’s location a draw. Hamm asked the Oat Foundry engi-
neering team to program their retro split-flap display with a cus-
tom Flight Tracker API that delivers real-time flight information
for airplanes as they pass overhead flying to or from the
airport.
When a plane flies loudly over Nolita Hall, the split flap
begins clacking, and guests turn their heads in anticipation to see
the flight origin and number appear on the display in real time.“We are really able to delight guests and generate conversations
totally unique to us,” Hamm commented.
To keep interest piqued, the display is constantly updated with
food and beer specials, clever quotes, and any other information
that Hamm or the managers choose to share.
“We build things that you can’t find off the shelf,” Oat Found-
ry co-founder and CEO Mark Kuhn IV said. “The split-flap dis-
play is the perfect addition to the Nolita Hall experience.”
Adding to the blending of the indoors and outdoors, Tecture
built out the largest mechanized glass doors in Little Italy, creat-
ing four disparate systems made up of a quad-fold system, normal
large pivot doors, a counter-weighted door, and horizontal slider
doors in all different locations.
Now a defining characteristic of the restaurant, the door
installation proved to be a challenging feat for the team. “You can
design things really well on a computer, but until you get to the
project site it’s all trial and error,” Michael said. “It’s a technical
puzzle. But we enjoy doing things differently, and in this case, it
paid off.”
Tecture also added big communal tables (an elevated take on
the classic picnic table), acrylic light transmitters, and a cus-
tom-wood bar and kitchen window to differentiate it from other
restaurants in the area. “We chose calming materials that created
the ambiance we were going for,” Michael said.
Nolita Hall opened in April 2018 to great reviews, and quickly
earned a 2018 Orchids & Onions Design Award from the San
Diego Architectural Foundation. “Every project and property I
acquire starts with the underlying belief that regardless of loca-
tion, use, or financial underwriting, it should have potential to
become something special and provide a certain ‘wow factor’
with aesthetics and design,” Hamm said. “This can be done suc-
cessfully in a number of different ways. It can be simple and sub-
tle, or unexpected and bold. Often times, and I think in this case,
it’s the perfect combination of both.” CAPROJECT|interiors
- Black Swan Hospitality,
blackswanhospitality.com - Nolita Hall, nolitahall.com
- Oat Foundry, oatfoundry.com
- San Diego Architectural Foundation,
sdarchitecture.org
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commercialarchitecturemagazine.
com/1904tecture.San Diego’s newest beer hall, Nolita Hall, located
in the city’s Little Italy neighborhood, presents the
atmosphere of a European beer hall with Italian
design fl ourishes.