Restaurant Interiors Case Study

The Project: This Korean taco and ssam bar serving Korean cuisine in tortilla or ssam form. (“Ssam” is a Korean word meaning “wrapped.”) This restaurant seeks to provide a high-quality, authentic and very flavorful introduction to Korean cuisine through ssam and tacos.

The Challenge: While the owners wanted to deliver the best of Korean BBQ, they also wanted to do so in an approachable and casual atmosphere. At the same time, they want to educate and share with customers their love for Korean food and culture while showing how versatile it can be.

The Solution: To create the interior design that was sought, attention to detail and a view toward cleanliness were paramount. Surfaces that are made from easy-to-clean materials are used throughout. Sharp, crisp detailing was also sought that could create an appealing, casual atmosphere while continuing the use of durable, easy-to-clean surfaces. For this restaurant then, the choice of materials for wall trim and base were important. Therefore, a collaboration was established between the designers and a manufacturer of extruded aluminum wall trim. In developing the design, it was determined that a custom manufactured trim profile would work best. Working together, one was readily created that stayed within the budget and met both the aesthetic and cleanliness needs of the project.

The Result: The completed restaurant is successfully meeting its goals, including the sought-after look using custom trim.

VRF Case Study

Project: 800 North High Street Building
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Developer: Crawford Hoying Development
Architect: Moody Nolan
Engineer: PE Services

The Project: Since its opening in fall 2019, the 800 North High Street Building has become a fixture in the community. Part of Columbus, Ohio’s Short North Arts District, a neighborhood known for promoting local businesses and culture, this modern, mixed-use development features a coworking space, two restaurants, and Marriott’s new modern hotel brand, Moxy. “When you look at the Short North, you are talking about the hottest submarket within the hottest city in the Midwest,” says Nelson Yoder, RA, principal at Crawford Hoying Development.

The Challenge: In securing this piece of sought-after, premium real estate, Crawford Hoying had to ensure the building would drive revenue, so the decision was made early on to incorporate the full mixed-use capabilities. This presented the challenge of designing and specifying a versatile, cost-effective, and energy-efficient HVAC system that could help balance operating costs through efficient control and design flexibility. “When we approach a building like this, we are constantly evaluating it on a bunch of different viewpoints. Energy efficiency is an important pillar along with aesthetics, occupant comfort, and how the uses come together,” Yoder explains.

The Solution: For the 10-story, 150,000-square-foot building, the engineers at PE Services specified 215 tons of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) equipment. “One of the main benefits of this VRF system is that there are a number of unit types that can all be packaged for the infrastructure of the project,” says Craig Slaughterbeck, president of PE Services. “This is space saving and helped us meet the needs of the architecture firm, as we had to spatially allocate the HVAC system to fit within their desired aesthetic.”

Aesthetics were a key concern for the building, especially for the hotel portion. “For this project, we have 250 indoor units, and the styles vary based on their location throughout the building,” says Bryan Crnarich, PE, commercial regional manager for METUS. “In the hospitality areas of the building, it was really important to the ownership that we had ducted style units. In the electrical areas, we have wall-mounted units, and in the coworking space, we have sleek, ductless ceiling cassettes.”

To meet Moxy’s brand standards as well as the local zoning authority’s criteria, Crawford Hoying had to keep a simple, clean look for the rooms. This criteria even applied to the mechanical systems. “Many hotels have the grill underneath the window associated with a packaged terminal air-conditioner (PTAC) unit. At this site, we have fantastic skyline views, so the last thing we wanted to do was obscure them with a mechanical system,” Yoder explains. “Besides our own aesthetic tastes, we could not obtain zoning approval with a PTAC unit. Some agencies do not like this look. By going with VRF, we were able to eliminate that as a concern. Besides, letting the mechanical system ‘disappear’ into a room is fantastic for creating an overall ambience.”

VRF’s design flexibility also helped create more usable, leasable, and revenue-generating space for the building. The contractors at G Mechanical Inc. installed 90 percent of the mechanical systems for the building on a single platform located on the roof. “The outdoor units are allowed to sit so close together (while still running efficiently). Everything was so compact, the platform even includes a DOAS unit,” says Sean Minshall, project manager with G Mechanical. With such space-saving benefits, the architects were able to add a rooftop bar to the same level as the mechanical platform.

Crawford Hoying also appreciated the compact, two-pipe system when designing the interior of the building. “By selecting a VRF system, we could reduce penetrations from giant duct openings to much smaller chases for the line sets. This allowed us to save on both shaft wall construction on the front end as well as realize some more income from leasable space throughout the life cycle of the building,” Yoder says. “If you were to compare that with a unitary system, we would have very large duct runs going down the corridor, and coordination would have been a lot more difficult,” adds C.J. Giannetto, owner of G Mechanical.

The Result: The VRF system keeps the building warm and running efficiently, even in the coldest of winter weather. “For this particular design, we specified 21 outdoor hyper-heat, heat-recovery units. In an area like Columbus, Ohio, we have winter design temperatures near zero degrees,” Crnarich says. “That said, at this site, we do not have supplemental heat, nor do we have concern with auxiliary heat, as the outdoor units are able to maintain the set point temperature even on a zero-degree day."

The system’s heat recovery also helps provide a comfortable atmosphere while ensuring efficient energy usage. “Heat-recovery operation is ideal in a building like this. The system uses itself to reject heat one way or the other without rejecting it outside, which would normally be way more costly,” Minshall explains. Overall, the 800 North High Street building is an energy-efficient, mixed-use facility that maximizes leasable space, keeps occupants comfortable, and minimizes operational costs.