Iskra is a restaurant of modern author's cuisine located in the heart of Minsk - Oktyabrskaya Street.
This is the street where its own gastronomic culture has formed, here is concentrated the largest number of tastes and formats of establishments from food trucks to restaurants.
The main specialty of the restaurant is the mastery of meat cooking. From classic steaks to author's experiments, the facility's menu invites guests on a real culinary journey.
ABOUT THE PLACE The restaurant is located in the historic industrial building of the former leather workshops of Rubin, Salman, Goltberg, Dehn and Improt, which were located here from 1895 to 1927. In 1927 the factory acquired a machine hall and was named “Bolshevik”. And after 1988 it was moved outside the city. The building was empty for a long time, and since 2012 its restaurant history began.
This building is a vivid example of how a “cold” industrial interior became a new point of attraction, a place where people gather and give it a new meaning.
ABOUT THE CONCEPT Iskra restaurant has 2 floors with a total area of 117 m2 and can seat up to 65 persons.
The basic philosophy of the owners is to give each visitor a vivid gastronomic adventure, so that each dish gives not only a taste but also a visual experience.
We started working on the concept from our base - the building. Loft aesthetics reigned here - all the load-bearing walls of the building were made of old brick, huge high ceilings with roof windows. And despite the large windows - even in the daytime there was a dark atmosphere in the room.
And since the main thing of the place is meat and wine, we needed to keep the balance of loft and restaurant in one space.
As a result, we decided to create an interior that would not draw too much attention to itself and would serve as a background, allowing guests to fully enjoy the food and communication with each other.
We designed the first floor in dark graphite accents, softening it with flying translucent lights under the ceiling. We saved the dim atmosphere by refusing to use general lighting in preference to spot lighting above the tables and the bar.
The second floor, on the contrary, it was decided to highlight and make completely white, leaving only the ceiling dark - creating the effect of “dark sky”.
To highlight the industrial vibe of the building, we added thin metal elements in the interior in the form of pipes, table edges, and thin arches. The bar area and the kitchen area were completely made in metal - creating the feeling of a “machine line” from under which the perfect food and drinks come out. Clinker tiles on the floor also pay tribute to the industrial past of the building, but because of its small format this effect is softened and seems cozier.
The industrialism is also diluted by delicate natural motifs in the form of branches in lightboxes and the decorative wall - as a symbol of eternity and natural beauty in any state.
After the first few months of operation, the owners decided to upgrade the terrace of the place together with our team.
We did not move the concept from the interior to the street. Oktyabrskaya Street is known primarily for its street food culture and art. That's why we chose furniture in the color of street facades, mixing it with a confident concrete arc, which is a reflection of the soft arc of the interior.
ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION Since the building has a cultural value, we could not make global structural changes and worked with the original structure.
We covered the balcony area, leaving only a small window at the level of the dining tables. Thus we created privacy for the visitors of the 2nd floor. Ceilings and communications were left open, painting them together with the walls in the same color. We chose a textured plaster to hide small irregularities and to give the brutal anthracite a little softness.
The old flooring was dismantled and replaced with small-format brick tiles. This was the most difficult work - thousands of crosses had to be laid out over the whole area of the restaurant.
The only significant structural solution was to change the opening to the sanitary block. The existing opening had to be greatly enlarged to allow for an archway. ABOUT DESIGN AND ELEMENTS FURNITURE - In the restaurant interior we used only a few purchased items - chairs, wall lamps, plumbing fixtures. All other elements are custom. The style of the place is very characteristic and brutal, we could not fully convey it using ready-made elements, so we had to improvise.​ We arranged the seating in such a way that the restaurant could adjust to any requests of its guests - up to a small party.
The bench in the center of the 1st floor room can be singled out individually. In the previous restaurant the problem was that all visitors went to the second floor without stopping on the ground floor. As a result, people passing by could see from the street an absolutely empty restaurant with full seating on the second floor. By creating an arc to break the general geometry of the restaurant, we created an element of gravity and drew visitors away from the staircase and into the interior of the room.
LIGHTING - We designed the whole ceiling light with a large team of metal contractors, lighting contractors, builders and designers. We wanted to maintain a chamber style of lighting, but we also wanted all the dishes to be illuminated so that each guest could take a picture of their dish in any position and it would always turn out perfect. It was important that the light didn't create deep shadows under the eyes, turning the restaurant into a place of tired faces. A cool unplanned effect was how the light created wine spots from filled glasses on the table.
It was important to fill the ceiling space so that you wouldn't feel like you were sitting in a factory, but still leave room for the 2nd floor diners to be observers. By using the translucent fabric of the luminaires, it was possible to create the effect of a theater and backstage - where everyone can see what's going on downstairs.
ARCHES - We accented each window opening with a slim, sleek metal frame, framed with complementary backlighting. This made it possible to highlight each dining group without adding any unnecessary details or new elements. We also highlighted the bathroom block with a metal arch, thanks to its arched shape - this allows us to highlight the block and indicate to visitors that the interior continues beyond the arch.
Iskra was an opportunity for us to give a new story to a place already loved by Minsk citizens and to add one more object from Oktyabrskaya to our portfolio. We managed to create a cozy interior in the walls of a former industrial building and fit the restaurant into the street-art style of a large creative space.​ Text description by the architects. Text description by the architects.
Source: www.zrobim.by Team Lead: Marianna Drozdova Designer: Hanna Kutsko Drafter: Polina Evstratova
