Cafe and restaurant architecture · Live music
We designed a live-music bar-restaurant.
A long room on an upper floor, its arched windows facing the city. The same space had to work as a restaurant with a view by day and a bar with a stage by night. Below we set out how one room was tuned to two different operations.
- Space type
- Bar-restaurant with a live music stage
- Shell
- Upper floor, a run of arched windows, a long room
- Scope
- Interior design and visualisation
- Stage
- Design
Design principle
In a room with live music the stage cannot be the last thing added. Where the stage goes decides where the tables go, and the tables decide where the bar goes; reverse that order and either the stage is invisible or the service stops.
01
Giving the windows to the tables
The only natural source in the room is the run of arched windows. The area in front of them was not left clear: the seating comes right up to the window line and the service aisle was moved inboard.
The common decision is the reverse — a walking route in front of the windows and tables set inboard. That layout makes the room look empty from outside and sells the view to nobody.
Horizontal blinds were fitted to the windows. By day the light is broken into horizontal bands falling onto the table; closed in the evening, the run of windows becomes a dark surface. The same window does two different jobs at two different hours.
02
The length of the bar
The bar sits along the long side of the room rather than the short one, and was kept deliberately long. In evening service a bar counter is not only where drinks are made but where standing guests settle; a short bar cuts evening capacity directly.
The back wall was resolved as shelving down to the floor, with concealed light between the shelves. That light makes the row of bottles the brightest surface in the room, and in a dark bar it is the first place the eye goes.
The counter top is pale stone and the body dark timber. The pale top is the surface on which a glass and a hand are visible; the line the bartender works on stays bright while the body the guest leans on stays dark.
03
Rows for the audience
The zone facing the stage was built as back-to-back banquette rows. A back-to-back layout fits the most people into the same area and each row keeps its own table, so nobody has to turn a chair when the music starts.
The banquette height was deliberately kept low. A high back acts as a curtain for sound and blocks the view of the row behind, and in a room with live music those two losses arrive together.
The tables are fixed and the chairs loose. The evening layout is made by adding chairs without moving a table, so the service pattern holds while capacity rises.
04
The stage and the evening layout
The stage was moved to the short end opposite the bar rather than the middle of the room, and raised one step off the floor. One step is enough to open the sightline of a seated guest; anything higher eats into the ceiling height and cuts the musician off from the room.
The stage floor was left red. Because the whole room is dark timber and leather, the stage is the only coloured surface, and even with the lights down its position can be read.
The walls around the stage were finished in vertical boarding and louvres. Both are materials that break a surface: a flat wall returns sound directly, while a broken surface softens it in the evening. By day the same walls are the quiet backdrop of the room.
Decisions and common mistakes
| Item | Settled in the design | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Window line | Seating comes right up to the windows and the service aisle was moved inboard. | A walking route is put in front of the windows and the view is sold to nobody. |
| Stage level | Raised one step off the floor, opening the sightline. | The stage is built high and the musician is cut off from the room. |
| Banquette height | Kept low so the row behind loses neither view nor sound. | A high back is chosen and the back row neither sees nor hears. |
| Evening capacity | Tables fixed and chairs loose, so people are added without breaking the layout. | Everything is fixed and the evening layout cannot be made. |
Frequently asked
- Where does the stage go in a live-music room?
- At the short end opposite the bar, raised one step off the floor. With bar and stage at the two ends of the room, service never crosses in front of the musician and the standing crowd does not block the view of seated guests. One step is enough to open the sightline; anything higher cuts the musician off from the room.
- Can one room be a restaurant by day and a bar at night?
- It can, provided the layout does not have to be rebuilt. Here the tables are fixed and the chairs loose, so evening capacity is made by adding chairs without moving a table. The horizontal blinds do the same job for light: open by day, closed at night.
- How long should a bar counter be?
- By how many people will stand there in the evening. A bar is not only a service point where drinks are made but where standing guests settle, and a short bar cuts evening capacity directly. Here the bar was placed along the long side of the room and the back wall resolved as lit shelving down to the floor.
Let’s talk about your space.
If you have the dimensions of the shell and the window line, let us begin. Tell us how many people you want to host in the evening and we will place the stage and the bar together.