Paul Kaloustian Architect

Stereokitchen

Stereokitchen
© leva Saudargaite

STEREOKITCHEN

Paul Kaloustian Architect

ARCHITECTS
Paul Kaloustian Architect

STRUCTURE
Rodolphe Mattar

OWNERS
Joe and Nayla Mourani

METAL CEILING
PSLAB

COLLABORATORS
Viken Khatcherian, Jihane Kaloustian

PHOTOGRAPHS
Joe Kesrouani, Ieva Saudargaite, Carl Gerges

AREA
500m2

YEAR
2014

LOCATION
Beirut, Lebanon

CATEGORY
Restaurants & Bars

Text description provided by architect.

Stereokitchen uses a simple design strategy to create complex spatial possibilities and perceptual effects.

Stereokitchen
© Joe Kesrouani
Stereokitchen
© Joe Kesrouani

The restaurant bar is a simple glass pavilion on the last floor of an office building on Pasteur Street in Beirut.It enjoys views on the city from one city and the Mediterranean sea with Beirut’s Port from the other.

The top of the pavilion is constituted partly by the existing concrete slab and partly byan added metal structure cantilevering to cover the whole area below.

Stereokitchen
© leva Saudargaite
Stereokitchen
© Joe Kesrouani

The edge of the cantilever becomes very thin (2cm) and runs along the whole length of the façade (25meters) and the corner on both sides.

The terrace "wrapping" the rounded glass volume celebrates the two opposite conditions of the crowded urbanity and the stretched wide horizon while creating ambiguous relations with the inside:

Stereokitchen
© Joe Kesrouani
Stereokitchen
© Joe Kesrouani

one engages and perceives the “glass pavilion” in multiple ways depending on the light and time of the day or night, it could appear as a solid volume peeling open.

Revealing its interior or maintaining a certain amount of “opacity” and intrigue while the glass becomes once a window of display case of the people inside or a display case of the facing city.

Stereokitchen
© Joe Kesrouani
Stereokitchen
© Carl Gerges

Stereokitchen’s appeal might not only lie in its array of effects but also in its program and utility. Within its limited footprint, its uses and possibilities are unlimited.


Stereokitchen
© leva Saudargaite
Stereokitchen
© leva Saudargaite
Stereokitchen
© Paul Kaloustian Architect


Stereokitchen
Exploded Axonometric
Stereokitchen
Section


Stereokitchen
Floor Plan

Paul Kaloustian Architect
T +961 1 490453
Paul Kaloustian Architect
Achrafieh, Beirut 0000, Lebanon