Courtyard Restaurant
Unbuilt concept study
A 60-cover all-day restaurant organised around a planted courtyard, exploring how a single daylit void can carry a room from breakfast service through to late dinner without feeling like two different places.
Plan diagram
How the space is organised
- Perimeter banquette
- A 600mm-deep run along the south, east and north walls, with twelve 1400 × 700mm four-tops in front of it at a 1.8m pitch — 48 covers.
- Loose two-tops
- Six 700mm tables in the ring between banquette and courtyard, absorbing walk-in demand — a further 12 covers, 60 in all.
- Planted courtyard
- 5.0 × 3.0m of daylit void at the centre of the dining floor, glazed on all four faces — the brightest thing in the plan by day.
- Circulation
- 1.5m clear north and south of the courtyard glazing and 1.2m either side, measured to the nearest chair back, so sightlines to the void stay open from every seat.
Spatial strategy
Perimeter banquette seating frees the floor plate's centre for the courtyard and circulation. Loose two-tops between the banquette and the planting absorb walk-in demand without blocking sightlines to the void.
Lighting strategy
Daylight does the work until dusk, washing down the courtyard's four faces. After dark, low pendants drop to 800mm above each tabletop so light pools on the table rather than washing the room, and the shade shields the lamp itself from a seated diner's sightline.
The question
All-day dining asks one room to hold breakfast light and dinner intimacy. Most restaurants solve it with dimmers alone, which changes brightness without changing the shape of the lit space.
The proposition
A courtyard gives the room a second light source that behaves differently at each hour. By day the void is the brightest thing in the plan and pulls people inward. After dark it goes quiet and the pendants take over, shrinking the perceived room to the occupied tables.