Trattoria Trecolori

View from entrance on 47th street.

Project details

• Project Name: Trattoria Trecolori
• Client: JMVP Realty, Inc.
• Project Type: Restaurant
• Principal Designer: Ricardo Zurita
• Design Team: Ricardo Zurita , Jonathan Heppner, Monica Sedano, Jordi Safont-Tria
• Contractor/s: A&T Construction
• Date of commencement of project: July 2006
• Date of completion of project: May 2007
• Location of site: 254 West 47th Street, 10036 New York, NY
• Built-up Area: 6.7000 SF
• Cost of Construction/Execution: 1.8 Million Dollars

Words from the designer

Located in the Time Square District of New York City, this large Italian restaurant occupies the lower 2 floors and cellar of a 5-storey building.

Formerly located several blocks away, the restaurant had developed a passionate clientele with a fondness for the casual, unassuming former space.

The new space, though much larger than its predecessor, had the challenge of projecting a warm, inviting environment of casual comfort in order to please the loyal patrons and attract new ones.

View of the bar in the 1st floor.

Space Planning

The ground floor contains a bar and a cafe with a dining area in the rear. Over the bar the ceiling is open to the floor above. Upstairs is a lounge with a bar and an additional dining space in the rear.

The access to this space is via an existing staircase that was altered. The dining space is often used for private events and has a wine "cellar" adjacent to it. Service spaces, including the kitchen are located in the cellar.

View of the lounge in the 2nd floor.

Design Elements

The notable design elements in the restaurant are referenced from what many people might consider archetypal Italian trattoria interiors. These include plaster vaults and wood beam ceilings, in this case introduced in a subtle tongue-in-cheek manner.

The perimeter vaults are eccentric in curvature, rather than forming a continuous arc. Also, rather than appearing to hold up anything they instead seem to float. What appears to be a wood beamed ceiling over the main dining space is, upon closer inspection, seen to be a grid of wood and metal serving as a giant light fixture hung from the ceiling.

The "beams" do not touch the walls or ceiling. The original lighting at the bars as well as the lounge furniture also appear traditional but a second look reveals their contemporary design.

View from the lounge in the 2nd floor.

Materials

The rustic qualities that typically associated with the notion of a "trattoria" are in part also derived from the inherent character of the existing building, including tall ceilings and rough brick walls.

Some of the existing building elements like, the brick, and a cast iron storefront, were hidden and were revealed during the construction process. These existing elements were merged with new materials - that age beautifully and are at the same time easy to maintain.

These materials included Canyon Red quartzite stone in a honed finish, ash wood, blackened steel, Venetian plaster finishes and linen drapery.

Credits

• Text by Ricardo Zurita
• Photographs by Jose Luis Cortes, Courtesy of Zurita Architects