RAPPU is a new omakase sushi bar concept by The Feather Blade group and offers a striking design worthy of the largest venue of its kind in Singapore. Housed in a heritage-preserved shophouse on Duxton Road, commonly referred to as the neighborhood with a bustling dining and bar scene, OWIU Studio’s design for RAPPU is based around the preservation of two shophouses and transformation into one structure.
Rethinking The Future Awards 2021
Third Award | Hospitality (Built)
Project Name: RAPPU
Studio Name: OWIU Studio
Design Team: Amanda Gunawan, Joel Wong
Claudia Wainer, Architectural Associate
Eduardo Cortazar, Architectural Associate
Area: Hospitality (Built)
Year: 2020
Location: Singapore, Tanjong Pagar District
Consultants:
Photography Credits: Finbarr Fallon
Other Credits: Main Contractor- Ying Tao Construction; Carpentry- Artform Furniture and Construction
With the intention to preserve the charm of the heritage shophouse, OWIU Studio maintained the exposed timber ceiling beams and raw concrete flooring to showcase the industrial aesthetic of the original space while reimagining it as a chic restaurant. RAPPU’s sushi bar counter boasts 36 seats, making it the largest sushi omakase bar in Singapore.
For RAPPU’s industrial-chic aesthetic and ambitious design, OWIU Studio developed various creative solutions to accommodate the existing architectural constraints and showcase the restaurant’s custom omakase bar. The studio’s approach required creating a six-meter-long (19.6 feet) opening through 0.3 meters-wide, load-bearing brick and installing a new steel post and lintel system on a new foundation to support the structure. The result is a dramatic open space with a continuous quartz bar that spans nearly 20 meters long, an ambitious idea and the first of its kind in Singapore. The dramatic dining surface is accented by a 20-meter-long steel LED lighting system suspended above the bar counter that mimics the bar’s shape and adds scale.
On RAPPU’s dining floor, OWIU Studio’s parametric optimizes guest and staff circulation while at the same time enabling kitchen-to-dining-room flow. A customized 20 meter-long steel profile RGB LED light wraps the space above the counter, mimicking the overall profile of the bar. The light syncs with music and changes color overtime as the day progresses. RAPPU is a specialty hand roll omakase sushi concept that has officially opened its inaugural location in Singapore. “Omakase” is the Japanese word for “chef’s choice” and is a common concept in traditional sushi bars. Omakase is centered around a bar behind which a chef serves his or her customers directly. An ambitious idea and the first of its kind, the design concept for RAPPU’s dining bar features a single continuous piece of quartz bar spanning nearly 20-meters long.
