Shima
New York, New York

As part of 10th Street Condominiums, our multi-residential condominium building in the East Village, we were asked to design a sushi restaurant on the ground floor, which is on a busy intersection in the dense NYC neighborhood. Inspired by the non-stop kinetic energy of Tokyo’s streetscape with its towering, pulsating billboards, we wanted to create a clean and highly animated space to attract the attention of passers-by and to provide a memorable, effervescent dining experience.

Our solution was to integrate a large display behind the communal sushi bar that would be engaging for patrons and conspicuous from the street through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The programmable band of imagery is composed of colored LED and creates a moving backdrop. The sushi bar is a mass of polished stainless-steel that has been dissected into two, revealing glowing white light from the top and bottom surfaces. The restaurant seats 62 with simple wooden stools at the sushi bar and small black tables with a stainless steel base and metal grid chairs along the front windows.

Departing from the usual quiet, Zen-style Japanese restaurant, this bold, dynamic concept matches the spirit and vitality of the East Village neighborhood.