Noma, a restaurant that has been named the best in the world four times by World’s 50 Best Restaurants, has moved from the 16th century harborside warehouse it has called home for the past 14 years. Its new abode was built on the site of a protected ex-military warehouse once used to store mines for the Royal Dutch Navy.
Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) as an intimate garden village, the new location dissolves the restaurant’s individual functions into a collection of separate but connected buildings. There are 11 spaces in total, each one tailored to its specific needs, and densely clustered around the kitchen.
Dining room. Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj.
The kitchen is designed as a panopticon, which allows the chefs to oversee the entire kitchen, the dining room, and the private dining room. The kitchen and guest spaces are made of stacked timber planks meant to look like neatly stacked wood at a timber yard.
See Also: WeWork names BIG’s Ingels as its Chief Architect
Outside, three free-standing glass houses provide the restaurant’s garden, bakery, and test kitchen. The garden is visible to guests via a set of sliding windows. A large skylight helps bring in natural light to the kitchen and various dining spaces. Also included in the new restaurant are a barbeque and a lounge. Guests can explore each space and move between buildings via glass-encased connecting spaces.
Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj.
BIG preserved the existing warehouses shell and used it for all the back-of-house functions such as the prep kitchen, fermentation labs, fish tanks, ant farms, terrarium, and break-out areas for staff.
Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj.
“The new noma dissolves the traditional idea of a restaurant into its constituent parts and reassembles them in a way that puts the chefs at the heart of it all,” says Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG.
The restaurant provides just under 14,000 sf of space across its 11 buildings.
Entrance. Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj.
Lounge area. Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj.
Dining room and kitchen. Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj.
Private dining room. Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj.
Greenhouse. Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj.
Kitchen. Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj.
Display hallway. Photo: Rasmus Hjortshoj.
Related Stories
3D Printing | Oct 9, 2024
3D-printed construction milestones take shape in Tennessee and Texas
Two notable 3D-printed projects mark milestones in the new construction technique of “printing” structures with specialized concrete. In Athens, Tennessee, Walmart hired Alquist 3D to build a 20-foot-high store expansion, one of the largest freestanding 3D-printed commercial concrete structures in the U.S. In Marfa, Texas, the world’s first 3D-printed hotel is under construction at an existing hotel and campground site.
Mixed-Use | Oct 7, 2024
New mixed-use tower by Studio Gang completes first phase of San Francisco waterfront redevelopment
Construction was recently completed on Verde, a new mixed-use tower along the San Francisco waterfront, marking the end of the first phase of the Mission Rock development. Verde is the fourth and final building of phase one of the 28-acre project that will be constructed in several phases guided by design principles developed by a design cohort led by Studio Gang.
The Changing Built Environment | Sep 23, 2024
Half-century real estate data shows top cities for multifamily housing, self-storage, and more
Research platform StorageCafe has conducted an analysis of U.S. real estate activity from 1980 to 2023, focusing on six major sectors: single-family, multifamily, industrial, office, retail, and self-storage.
Mixed-Use | Sep 19, 2024
A Toronto development will transform a 32-acre shopping center site into a mixed-use urban neighborhood
Toronto developers Mattamy Homes and QuadReal Property Group have launched The Clove, the first phase in the Cloverdale, a $6 billion multi-tower development. The project will transform Cloverdale Mall, a 32-acre shopping center in Toronto, into a mixed-use urban neighborhood.
3D Printing | Sep 17, 2024
Alquist 3D and Walmart complete one of the nation’s largest free-standing, 3D-printed commercial structures
Walmart has completed one of the largest free-standing, 3D-printed commercial structures in the US. Alquist 3D printed the almost 8,000-sf, 20-foot-high addition to a Walmart store in Athens, Tenn. The expansion, which will be used for online pickup and delivery, is the first time Walmart has applied 3D printing technology at this scale.
Retail Centers | Sep 17, 2024
Thinking outside the big box (store)
For over a decade now, the talk of the mall industry has been largely focused on what developers can do to fill the voids left by a steady number of big box store closures. But what do you do when big box tenants stay put?
Mass Timber | Sep 17, 2024
Marina del Rey mixed-use development is L.A.’s largest mass timber project
An office-retail project in Marina del Rey is Los Angeles’ largest mass timber project to date. Encompassing about 3 acres, the 42XX campus consists of three low-rise buildings that seamlessly connect with exterior walkways and stairways. The development provides 151,000 sf of office space and 1,500 sf of retail space.
Mixed-Use | Aug 21, 2024
Adaptive reuse of a Sears store becomes luxury mixed-use housing
6 Corners Lofts at 4714 W Irving Park Road, Chicago, Ill., opened in March of 2024 as a 394,000-sf adaptive reuse project born out of a former Sears store.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 30, 2024
Empty mall to be converted to UCLA Research Park
UCLA recently acquired a former mall that it will convert into the UCLA Research Park that will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, as well as programs across other disciplines. The 700,000-sf property, formerly the Westside Pavilion shopping mall, is two miles from the university’s main Westwood campus. Google, which previously leased part of the property, helped enable and support UCLA’s acquisition.
Smart Buildings | Jul 25, 2024
A Swiss startup devises an intelligent photovoltaic façade that tracks and moves with the sun
Zurich Soft Robotics says Solskin can reduce building energy consumption by up to 80% while producing up to 40% more electricity than comparable façade systems.
