Founders of YODEZEEN, Artur Sharf and Artem Zverev won the LIV Hospitality Design Awards 2020 ‘ Interior Design of the Year – Eating Space” with their project Virgin Izakaya Bar. Here, they share with us their passion for the industry, and the challenges behind their winning restaurant design, and discuss exciting new projects.
Could you tell us a little about your professional journey? Where are you from?
Artem Zverev: This year, our studio turned 11 years old and, despite this time, we are still in love with what we do, and completely devote ourselves to creating and developing our brand. When we decided to create our architectural and design studio, we were only 20 years old, with no orders, no team, and no office. We have always been dreamers but, now, the difference is that we have strong backing in the form of a large team of like-minded people and projects reflecting our vision. Together with these people, during this time, we have developed more than 800 projects in 127 cities, and we still want more. Growth is the only way.
How/when did you discover that you wanted to work in design?
Artur Sharf: We both graduated in architecture and, as teenagers, we knew where we were going to study – and we were right. Many architects open their own businesses and gradually retire, but we always want to be involved in all the creative and technical processes. We continue to work day and night, spending hours on the construction site, and sitting over the drawings until they seem ideal to us. For both of us, the theoretical part has never been the most interesting.
How would you characterize your winning project? What is the main idea behind Virgin Izakaya Bar?
AZ: Virgin Izakaya Bar occupies an area of 405 square meters and allocates an onsite industrial estate of arsenal manufactory in Kyiv centre. The building was built at the end of the 18th century and the essential task for our team was to keep the existing architecture and preserve all the authentic elements and rich history. We were eager to create an atmospheric, conceptually complete space. Brick walls, rough wood, oxidized metal, and bare concrete, in opposition to the warm and pleasant atmosphere created by proper lighting and greenery.
The designers used natural materials as a part of the space design concept to create the concept. The tabletops are made of natural wood, lamps are made of copper, and seats and chairs are made of wood and leather; metal mesh performs both the function of space zoning and creates special decorative elements. The kitchen and the main hall of the restaurant are designed on the same level. It makes it possible to visually enlarge the space and focus on the feature core of the hall — an open kitchen.
Photo credit: YODEZEEN
What was the most important for you when planning this project? What were the biggest challenges you and your team faced?
AZ: The most interesting thing and, at the same time, the main challenge, was to match the classic Asian style of the restaurant with the historical Soviet architecture of the arsenal manufactory. It was necessary to do this carefully so that these very different styles when combined, emphasize and not absorb each other.
What does this recognition mean to you, and why do you think these awards are important?
AS: It is always a great honour for us to receive awards like these. It means that while working on the project, we have exceeded the tasks set by the client and surpassed ourselves. And this inspires us to gain future achievements and convinces us that we are on the right track.
Photo credit: YODEZEEN
Where do you get your motivation and daily inspiration?
AS: We have always believed that our work is our life. And when we gather around us a team of like-minded people, the same nerds of their business, like us, we motivate each other and help every day. Maybe we started as two, but we look to the future as a big team whose members inspire each other. And, of course, we would like to dedicate special gratitude to our clients who choose us, listen to our opinion and allow us to create everything as we dream.
Photo credit: YODEZEEN
What are you working on now? What is in the pipeline for you?
AZ: Now we are very interested in suburban real estate, and soon our first gated cottage community, YORESIDENCE, will be launched. We have a lot of experience in this segment, and we know how to apply all this knowledge and what to avoid in order to make it architecturally and functionally perfect. This project is in the process of construction right now, and we have discovered ourselves as developers, finding we enjoy this new role. Our goal is not only to create a project we will be proud of, but also to improve the quality of life for future residents. It’s a new mission for our team, to accumulate a large amount of unique knowledge on how to implement suburban real estate qualitatively and build it highly aesthetically.
Virgin Izakaya Bar
Photo credit: YODEZEEN