Bars are often the focal point of restaurants — and should be because the bar is a large source of the space’s energy. It can enliven a room, create atmosphere, boost sales and complement the restaurant’s design. It can also have a design identity of its own, thereby creating new experiences for repeat guests.
When bars are done well, they encourage guests to arrive early for dinner to have a drink or to linger afterwards.
At STK Steakhouse in Aventura, Fla., the restaurant’s design revolves around the energy of the circular bar on the main level. Ribbons in the ceiling guide the eye to the bar to make it the focal point. “We’re centering that bar, so the ribbons radiate out from it and make you realize there’s more to the space,” says Jen Ambrose, NCDIQ, project designer, Aria Group Architects, Oak Park, Ill.
Circular ribbons in the ceiling at STK Steakhouse Aventura guide diners’ eyes to the bar. Image courtesy of STK Steakhouse
Back Bar in Focus
The back bar is visually the most important area of the bar. It “is often the anchor of the overall aesthetic and the vibe, and often the bar acts as the catalyst of the space,” says Joe Junius, AIA, LEED, AP, senior associate, Aria Group.
It should be used to display available liquors but can also be used to add to the storytelling of the design. The back bar, says Natalie Hyde, NCDIQ, WELL AP, senior designer, MG2, Seattle, is “the articulation of the concept, the story, it’s where you can highlight special finishes, lighting, and the story of the cocktail.”
The back bar needs to be lit well to highlight the different bottles, glassware and to add mood, says Brian Thomas principal, DP3 Architects, Greenville, S.C. “Anything that’s going to be an eye-catcher has a better home here than anywhere else.”
If a back bar has shelves too high for a bartender to reach, they can be used for display, adds David Shove-Brown, partner of Washington D.C.-based architecture and design firm //3877. Shelves can be filled with dyed liquid to look like liquor, they can feature decor, branding elements, or real or fake greenery. These and any other knick-knacks, he points out, can “make it feel residential but add to the branding.”
Shove-Brown likes the lighting to be integrated in shelves and to show off beautiful back bar materials. He also loves a backlit thin stone quartzite panel, which reflects light well.
Don’t Sleep on the Bar Top
The second most important part of a bar is the bar top because customers interact with it directly. “When you’re sitting at the bar, it’s your whole world,” says Thomas. “That material affects your mood. In a warm climate you want a cool material like polished quartz; for an Old World feel you have a nice bar top with a rolled Chicago edge.”
Thomas mostly likes to use modern materials that have a clean look but will occasionally use wood, which “can tell a story because of the drink rings or a carving or a nick out of it, making it more interesting than a polished slab.”
Modern materials can also be improved upon. At Le Rock at Rockefeller Center, New York City, Ryan Mahoney, partner, Workstead in Manhattan, used a stainless-steel bar top that was treated to ensure hands don’t leave imprints.
Using high-quality and interesting materials around the bar sets the tone like at Mastros Miami, designed by DP3 Architects. Image courtesy of Roberto Ferren
Bar Front and Center
Paying attention to the bar front, or bar die, can add an extra level of detail that elevates an ordinary bar to something special.
At Le Rock, Mahoney wanted the bar front to provide a “monumental impact on the space.” So he covered it in cast bronze with an aged-looking patina that “gives it a lot of weight and importance. It looks like it’s been there a long time.”
Junius likes to play with tactile materials “to enrich the guest’s sensory experience — especially since coat hooks and power ports encourage guests to physically interact with that area,” he says. He likes to use tile, wood and metal, “which all offer varying degrees of warmth, durability and visual interest.”
If there are functional elements to the bar front such as hooks and power outlets, Junius includes some lighting “while playing with texture and shadow for a visually compelling effect.” However, if the bar front is plain, he prefers not to light it “as it may simply highlight scuff marks and signs of use.”
Hyde is a big fan of celebrating the bar front. “You’re creating a composition between the bar stool, the face of the bar, and the footrail,” she says. “And you can integrate light for a nice light wash either up or down. That's your first layer of interacting with the bar.”
Patrons sitting here can touch and see a great material and Hyde coordinates this with the feel of the bar. Favorites are a leather wrap for a high-end bar, or tile, fluted wood or wood slats. And she nearly always downlights it so customers don’t see the lights, just their effect.
At STK, Ambrose used a black tile on the bar front for “a sleek look with a high-level finish,” and to create a contrast so the white bar stools pop out. Because the bar is curved the tile needed to be small enough to move with the bend.
Lighting Design
Lighting can make or break a bar. Thomas likes to largely keep it hidden because the light is more important than the fixture it’s emanating from. Pendants can also clutter the view of the backbar for patrons seated farther away, he points out.
Mahoney designed Le Rock’s back bar so light would glow through the screen onto the customers. He used light amber cats paw glass to give it warmth; behind the glass is an opaque film and windows that open to change the light bulbs.
“We wanted something that felt historic to the space and had some gravitas for Rockefeller Center,” Mahoney says. “It also has a nod to Art Deco references. But we wanted it to feel current.”
Separating the bar from the dining room is a verdigris metal screen. Mahoney wanted to create a relationship between the dining room and the bar and wanted this screen to be a filter between the two. Verdigris sconces are integrated into both sides of the screen, and a pendant light fixture in matching verdigris also repeats in the bar area and dining room, bridging the two spaces.
Layered lighting works best in a bar, says Shove-Brown, “to make it feel warm and cozy and inviting.” It’s important to have some good light for the bartender, but that shouldn’t focus on the patrons because “nobody likes being lit from above,” he says.
Countertop lighting “brings a lot of personality into the bar top, says Grey. It puts the focus on the bar top and puts some light on the bartender and brings out the personality of the bar material.” She likes pendants, but places them above eye level “so they’re not obstructive.”
Above the Bar
Bar hats, also known as gantries, sit above bars and are often used for peninsula or island bars, mostly for storage, says Junius, but they can also help define the bar shape.
Junius likes a mix of wood, metal and glass for bar hats and often has the custom light fixture vendors build the bar hat “to make sure lighting and electrical is seamless with the structure.”
Bar hats can be helpful in lighting, because “it’s important to have light hit the surface of the bar top,” says Junius. A fine dining venue will want pools of light and a more casual glow. “We’ve implemented a variety of strategies, such as internally illuminating the bar hat itself, concealing fixtures within to shine light downward, or even using exterior lighting to highlight the structure.”
At il Carciofo in Chicago Junius designed a wood and metal bar hat suspended around three sides of the peninsula bar and used external track lighting “to wash over and highlight the metal mesh and vertical tube elements, giving them dimensionality and visual pop,” Junius says. A linear downlight was concealed beneath the hat to cast a soft glow on the countertop below.
“For il Carciofo, we chose not to illuminate the bottle and glass storage within the hat, but in other projects we’ve done exactly that to make those items part of the display,” Junius explains. “Providing a subtle glow on the bar top also contributes to an upscale ambiance and aids visibility, especially important for older guests who appreciate being able to read menus without resorting to phone flashlights.”
