Boutique Design - January/February 2010 - (Page 36)

S E C O N D H O M E SIMPLICITY pets. To be facile is so wrong.” Kikoski’s work on the Denver Broncos’ club level caught the eye of Peter Karpinski of Sage Restaurant Group. Sage had recently purchased the JW Marriott in Denver and wanted to renovate the hotel restaurant into a dining destination that would function as a standalone restaurant. “It is all in the name,” said Kikoski. “The restaurant was a large Tuscan-inspired room that had a foreboding quality.” Kikoski and his team tapped the Denver landscape to generate an authentic design and married local materials with room schemes that could compete on the world’s stage. “Let’s let this thing feel like your house in Aspen,” he said. “In my mind, you can travel all over the world but S weet Second Home by Andre Kikoski B Y R E B E C C A G O L D B E R G ndre Kikoski’s approach is to be deliberate. That means that one be simple, be memorable and be the best. Of course that does not mean that he advocates staid or plain. It is with the practice of executing these three principles that both he and his firm, Andre Kikoski Architect, have grown in the last seven years. “We said to ourselves, let’s make sure that whoever we work with is the best in their category,” said Kikoski. “When we started doing residential work, we partnered with the best developers. In restaurants, we work with the best chefs. That type of deliberate design has been great for us. They understand that to get something that’s the most unique, you have to trust your creative team and turn them loose.” While it is his restaurant work that has brought acclaim to his firm — for spaces like Second Home in Denver — a broad variety of projects have been designed by his office. “Six and a half years ago, we decided that we wanted a blended firm,” said Kikoski. “One day we’re talking to the Guggenheim, the next we’re talking about car- there’s something really special about the Rockies. It’s about the organic materials of the huge rocks and aspen trees. We wanted to interpret it in a way that was not the Colorado aesthetic, but to do it in a way that was fresh, exciting and eclectic.” The restaurant was divided into several spaces and experiences — a lounge, bar, main dining space, open kitchen, outdoor dining and private dining all packed into 5,000 square feet. “We decided to tackle this space in a sequential way,” said Kikoski. “We made a vestibule that twists and turns as people walk through. There are conversation areas with soft lighting that pull you in and you can sit there for hours.” As the floor plan was large, the space was intentionally layered. Throughout the different spaces, there is a continuity of materials — local woods are used to create texture on the wall of the private dining space and on the top of the bar. Elsewhere, chandeliers from the ‘50s emit light to simple tables and seating below, with fabrics by Maharam. “We wanted to design the space in a way that wasn’t predictable, not like a stage set,” he said. “Simplicity’s hard — like the perfect scoop of vanilla ice cream. We believe in simplicity instead of excess.” BD Top Left: Close-up of chair in the dining room at Second Home; Below, clockwise from Left: Andre Kikoski; The dining room; The bar and lounge 36 • boutique DESIGN january/february 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Boutique Design - January/February 2010

Boutique Design - January/February 2010
Contents
Q&A with Paul Heretakis
Business Sense
State of the Industry
By Honing in on Innovative firms, the Brand Design Team at W Hotels Has Brought the Company into its "Second Age"
Architect/Designer Rober Henry Teams with Chef Shaun Hergatt for and Intense Collaboration on a new Wall Street Restaurant SHO
The Deliberate Design Behind Andre Kikoski's New Cabin-Inspired Restaurant in Denver, Second Home
DREAMbook
Designology
The Design Team Behind Missoni Discusses Its New Foray into the Hotel Industry
Stacy Garcia Reveals Her Style Forecasts for 2010
The Sparkling Soiree BD Threw in Manhattan to Celebrate Boutique DESIGN New York and the Gold Key Design Award Winners
Calendar/Advertisers Index

Boutique Design - January/February 2010