Material guys

When it comes to creativity, the sky is the limit. Or, in this case, the ceiling or the walls. Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis (LTL) Architects, New York, demonstrate a knack for using shoestring budgets to their advantage?replacing what is lacking in a budget with a super-dose of innovative surfacing materials and creativity. Creating designs that incorporate materials such as strips of stained plywood or hundreds of thousands of bamboo skewers, the firm proves that the banal can transform into the beautiful.

"We know the budgets are tight. We ask ourselves, 'Are there ways to use the limits of a budget to our advantage?' We have to use materials that, per square foot, are inexpensive but that don't create what looks like 'cheap' place. There is a lusciousness that comes out of the banality," says partner Paul Lewis, about one of the firm's recent projects, Fluff Bakery in New York. The 800-sq.-ft. bakery and coffee shop's walls and ceiling are made of 18,500 linear feet of felt and plywood strips, and the entire space cost a mere $250,000 to create.

The firm had been experimenting with felt as a design surface before, though on a much smaller scale. "We try to take an idea that may seem very logical, such as stacking felt, but then ask: 'How far can you push the logic of something to the point where it becomes illogical?'" Lewis says. "Here, we decided to mix it in with other materials and let it be the entire architectural surface."

From the exterior, Fluff's design produces what the firm characterizes as "horizontal vertigo." The horizontal strips feel as though they are pulling potential patrons into the bakery. "We try to find a way to design the surfaces to operate as a visual seduction into the space," Lewis explains. The surface is designed to gradually change from darker tones toward the bottom of the wall to lighter tones at the ceiling. This was accomplished by creating a distinct ratio of the five different materials?three types of felt, and plywood that was stained two different colors?for every 2 feet of the wall. The subtly different ratio that works its way up the wall creates the desired effect.

The color scheme has a practical reasoning. The darker color, where customers are seated, is equipped to deal with extra wear and tear. Felt is also a practical choice because it absorbs sound well and, if damaged, allows only the damaged piece?not the entire surface?to be replaced. The felt and the plywood are anchored in place using wood glue and nails; on the ceiling, the plywood is nailed in, and the felt then inserted with pressure.

An LTL custom-designed chandelier, created of 42 dimmable incandescent lights connected to lengths of stainless steel, branches organically across the space. "Our thought here was for the chandelier to work as a counterpoint to the linearity of the walls and the ceiling," Lewis says. Though the steel branches look random, they actually distribute light evenly across the bakery. "It is made of 7-ft. lengths of polished stainless steel, but each is bent into one of three patterns," Lewis says.

Another LTL project that involves unique materials is Tides Restaurant, New York. The architect-designers embedded 120,000 bamboo skewers into its ceiling to evoke sea grass, in inverted, undulating waves. "The clients [Steven Yee and Allen Leung] already had the name Tides before we started working. We were looking at ways of getting at that name through visual imagery. Tidal grass and sea grass were part of that process," Lewis says. The project boasts an astonishingly low price tag?$75,000 for the entire 420-sq.-ft. installation. The skewers, the dominant design element, cost only about $2,000.

The inspiration for the fantastic ceiling originated in a practical concern. "The ceiling is almost as high as the space is wide. We realized that the site for doing something inventive would be the ceiling, to create a point of distraction," Lewis says. The design firm already had a package of bamboo skewers lying around the office, one of a variety of materials the firm purchased because it seemed promising. "We asked, 'What would happen if we started to accumulate the skewers as a density?'" Lewis remembers.

The skewers are inserted into a backlit acoustical ceiling. The panel is dropped about 60-in. and sound-absorbing, spongy acoustical tiles are incorporated. Lights are located in the dropped space. "The foam we selected allows light to glow through it," Lewis says. This allows the restaurant to achieve two distinct lighting effects. The lights in the dropped ceiling can be turned off, leaving only the regular restaurant lights; or, the restaurants lights can be turned off, showcasing the glow of the backlit ceiling. The firm characterizes this ambiance as making the interior look as though it is underwater.

To create the topographical effect, the bamboo skewers were inserted into the ceiling tiles at LTL's office (the restaurant is conveniently only a few blocks from the firm's headquarters). The skewers were dipped into glue, individually removed, then inserted into the foam. "It was like an art installation," Lewis describes.

The rest of Tides explores other bamboo applications. This includes the high-backed booths and slender strips of bamboo wall cladding that seem to peel back, revealing vertical lights. The tile floor is left in its original form. "It produces a nice counterpoint to all the new bamboo," Lewis says.

It is easy to appreciate the beauty of these two creative designs after seeing the finished spaces, but, in the early stages, there was an issue of convincing the retailers to feel confident with LTL's, somewhat bizarre, visions. "The first iteration of Fluff involved more materials being mixed together, including more warm colors and more woods. But, the client's [Chao Down Management Inc., New York] preference was to have it as monochromatic as possible," Lewis says. So, a new version of the design was produced that incorporated both team's goals. The decision-makers at Tides had more of a warning about LTL's imaginations. "They already had a sense of what they were getting into because they had seen our previous projects. But, they still said, 'What?' when we told them about their ceiling," Lewis says.

Lewis says that accurate and detailed perspective drawings and actual samples of the surfacing, such as a small sample of the bamboo skewer topography, generally let the clients feel more at ease. "It makes it easier to convince the client of aspects such as durability," Lewis says. After the curiosity subsides, the firm often has clients' support.

Another challenge is the issue of obtaining the appropriate materials, especially since items such as thousands of bamboo skewers are not easily specified. "We were told locally, 'You've exhausted our supply.' So, we called up and down the East Coast to find more," Lewis laughs. "There was probably a brief period when no one else on the East Coast could buy skewers."

The installation for Fluff and Tides took about two to three weeks each, with some tweaking done after that period. Much of the fabrication was completed by LTL's own staff and interns. "This was a response to both the budget and a way to maintain control over what are ultimately sculptural installations," Lewis says.

When consumers pass by the restaurants, there is "a delight or a pleasure involved," Lewis says. "From a distance, it looks extraordinary; then, up close you realize it is actually felt or bamboo skewers. The oscillation?that play between the familiar and the unfamiliar?is what we were trying to achieve."