bigsense preserves terrazzo floors and ceramic tiles for new sushi restaurant in taiwan

designed by bigsense and completed in april 2019, ‘aftertaste’ is a new sushi restaurant located in northern quarter of taichung city, taiwan. as the project involves the renovation of an existing building, the design team strived to preserve and enhance the original architectural features, such as the three-tone terrazzo floors, ceramic tile façade and taiwanese window grates, which all date back to 1979. 

images © weimax studio

for the interior of the new sushi restaurant, bigsense opted for clean walls alongside nostalgic fixtures such as rattan furniture and antique lighting, which harmonize with the history of the building and the local community. furthermore, they tore down the fence in the front courtyard, revealing the façade as a photo backdrop where diners can check-in on social media while they wait for their table.

the main challenge facing the designers was the interior’s compactness, as it measures just 463 ft2 (43 m2) over two floors. without making the space feel crowded, bigsense managed to fit in a row of 8 seats at the sushi bar on the first floor, and tables with 18 seats on the second floor. 

black iron and blue kiln tiles complement the cozy interior on the first floor, while daylight floods in through south-facing windows on the second floor. aftertaste won the golden pin design award 2019 design mark and has been shortlisted for the best design prize, which will be announced at the award ceremony in taipei on december 5.

project info:

project name: aftertaste

location: taichung city, taiwan

design: bigsense

photography: weimax studio

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.