fuel lounge

A modern and bold 3,000 square-foot urban bar. 

This sophisticated, modern wine and cocktail bar occupies a corner storefront on downtown Akron's Main Street, a conservative urban landscape undergoing slow and much-needed revitalization. The space was designed as a beacon, transparent to the street, attracting the attention of passersby and enticing them in.

The three-thousand-square-foot interior is divided into a set of spaces that flow into one another but have distinct, contrasting identities: a bar area over forty feet long, which is backlit with large etched glass and neon lighting; a room in front of the bar with couches and lounge seating; a small alcove behind the bar, forming a perfect place to see without being seen; two large turquoise seating pods with oversized wooden light fixtures; and VIP seating with padded fabric walls a few steps up in the back.

The sensuous palette of materials-a rich juxtaposition of woods, stone, glass, and colorful fabrics and furnishings-creates a space that is both edgy and sexy. The use of stainless steel in the tables, bar, and flooring reflects the client's other personality as the owner of a large steel fabrication shop.

Even the industrial clips for the gleaming glass wall were manufactured there. The highly polished, stainless steel clad columns also act as mirrors, giving patrons slightly distorted views of each other and themselves-a fitting play with point of view in this bar scene of altered self-consciousness.

Publications

2005/04 Hospitality Design