Boutique Design - November 2015 - 24

the buzz

bOutIQue 18 uPDAte
MAttheW GRzYWINSKI
CLASS OF 2006
THEN: Founding partner,

Grzywinski + Pons, New York
NOW: Grzywinski + Pons,

New York
WHAT'S THE BIGGEST CHANGE
YOU'VE SEEN IN THE DESIGN FIELD
SINCE BEING NAMED TO THE B18?

Technology has become so pervasive
that its use or novelty isn't an
advantage any more. The work needs
to be good enough to shine through,
irrespective of one's toolkit.
HOW DID BECOMING PART OF THE B18 IMPACT YOUR CAREER?

It was a great honor. I'm sure it helped get our name in front of several
prospective clients.
WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW?

We recently completed the Boro Hotel in New York and Urban Villa
hotel in London (shown). We're also working on several as-yet-unnamed
projects in the UK. One is a 250-key hotel and 137-unit residential
development in East London; the others are a 180-room hotel on the
Union Canal in Edinburgh and an art-hotel/extended-stay project
in Dublin. Back in New York, we are working on an as-yet-unnamed
22-room hotel on the Lower East Side, as well as two residential
buildings-one in the East Village and one at Long Island City.

boutiquedesign.com November 2015

The curtain will rise soon in suburban Cincinnati on a combined restaurant/
movie-theater concept. Slated to open in December in Blue Ash, Ohio, is Envision
Cinemas Bar & Grille, a 37,000-sq.-ft. complex created by 5G Studio Collaborative.
Envision is designed to offer a casual dining experience on one side of the
building, and a state-of the art dining/movie-going venue on the other. "The
interior of the building has been divided into two distinct spaces that complement each other while also serving guests as independent operations," says 5G
principal Tiffany Axner Woodson, who was also a 2014 Boutique 18 honoree.
Envision's hyrid nature is reflected on the building's exterior, which doesn't
bear the traditional marquee with the names of movies playing inside. Instead, the
complex is housed in a modern, angular structure whose façade consists mainly of
stone, glass and metal. "The façade metal is an alucobond panel with two vibrant
metallic tones of red and dark charcoal," says Woodson. "Serving as a visual counterpoint to that metallic surfacing is the warm tan tones of large-sized field stone."
Located adjacent to the complex's front entry is a restaurant that can seat
up to 150. Its interiors, Woodson says, are a mixture of "raw and glam elements,"
ranging from exposed brick walls and concrete flooring to Venetian plaster
and black-lacquer quilted wallcoverings. This area is also home to a bar, private
party room and an outdoor dining patio that overlooks an adjacent lake and
can be enclosed in cold weather.
The site's theaters consist of seven auditoriums equipped with plush
reclining seats with electronic menu boards for ordering from the restaurant. "We designed the seat-row spacing and configuration in such a way that
servers can deliver food without interrupting other guests," says 5G principal
Mike Voegtle. To serve both the building's dining operations, designers made
room for a hefty kitchen-it spans about 4,750 sq. ft.
5G is no stranger to creating such venues. The Dallas-based firm's clientele also
includes Cinemark, Alamo Drafthouse, Studio Movie Grill and Premiere Cinemas.

C O U R T E S Y O F G R Z Y W I N S K I + P O N S ( G R Z Y W I N S K I ) ; N I C H O L A S W O R L E Y ( U R B A N V I L L A ) ; C O U R T E S Y O F 5 G S T U D I O C O L L A B O R AT I V E ( E N V I S I O N C I N E M A S )

A NEW TAKE ON DINNER AND A MOVIE

http://www.boutiquedesign.com

Boutique Design - November 2015

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