FRANK is a restaurant chain that combines elements of street style and hip-hop culture. The team approached us to create their first restaurant in the Bluewaters neighbourhood of Dubai.
FRANK’s cuisine is an extension of the overall concept of the restaurant: simple, street, for everyone. Above all, the restaurant is known for its iconic ribs cooked with special technology.
In this project, we managed to pay tribute to traditions, to what FRANK projects started with, and to the associations its first visitors have. At the same time, the interior of FRANK has changed over the years: it evolved and became bolder and more serious.
Initially, FRANK can be characterised as a place of a courtyard, party, street style and music. This restaurant is divided into two floors, each of which has its unique atmosphere permeated with the spirit of street culture.
While designing this space we referred to the concept of a backyard party.
The ground floor is a quieter, daytime space for relaxed recreation, socialising, and delicious food. It’s an open, bright space with plenty of greenery, a basketball hoop, garage doors, upbeat music, and of course a grill. Here you can enjoy the iconic ribs and socialise with friends or family.
At the entrance, we are greeted by beverage fridges with merch hanging instead of drinks; and the hostess stand is designed as a glowing toolbox.
The centre of attention on the ground floor is the basketball court, a common element in the backyards of private homes in the US. The rest of the room is concentrated and formed around it.
We tried to avoid direct visual associations, so the court starts on the terrace and enters the main hall, the outer part of the ring is symbolised by a metal structure with boxes, and in the hall, there are old TV sets on which the basketball rings are broadcasted. The seating around this area is formed by hard plastic sports seats with massive tables next to them, and the floor has a special rubber non-slip coating. The rest of the hall is ‘buried’ in greenery, and in the end, there is an open kitchen grill, where the very ribs are cooked.
The first floor’s vibe is more party-bar-like, with an atmosphere associated with an afterparty following a backyard grill party. Dimmed lights, neon accents, bold designs, and metal finishes. This floor symbolises the transition from day to night when the party picks up and gets noisier and wilder. There’s a dried-up swimming pool, where a bar was placed together with a skate ramp to sit in. One part of the room has an oval gambling table, but instead of playing poker or roulette on it, the guests can enjoy pre-mixed cocktails in a tub of ice in the centre of the table.
This FRANK project is a crazy mix of street style culture, informality, boldness, hardcore, plenty of metal and coloured neon, graffiti and hip-hop, yet simplicity and openness to absolutely everyone, whether it’s a family with a child or a noisy large group of friends.
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