Grasshopper, Stamford Plaza, Auckland Central

The fitout was made more complex with the demolition of the substantial previous restaurant and kitchens that for 20 years had serviced the entire Stamford Hotel requiring substantial reconfiguration of inter-tenancy partitions and rationalizing numerous of floor levels.  A strict budget determined that all aspects to the fit out had to be justified in terms of cost and return.

To heighten the sense of transition for the customer, F+D=A created a modern “garden” at the entrance using external elements such as paving slabs and water.  The customer enters the restaurant over a faux-bridge “over” a pond and receives veiled views to the main dining hall through suspended faux-bamboo thicket formed from suspended powder coated pipe.  From this point the customer transitions to the true interior and may either be directed to the bar or to the restaurant.

F+D=A designed the bar as a signature focal point, and it is constructed from PSP satin ice and “Elbano” veneer shells that are to be reminiscent of lotus leaves.

The main dining is backed by the “Show Kitchen”  that frames the kitchen area and allows the customer to observe the theatrical nature of the Thai cooking experience with its s frenetic activity and dramatic flames of the wok.

There are two themed function areas.  One, The Elephant Room located on the long axis of the space as a climax to the main dining hall.  The room is entered between two silhouetted elephants past a bead wall.  The second, “The Lotus Room” is circular and has a suspended circular ceiling that it to be reminiscent on a lotus leaf.