The Korea House B.B.Q.

The Korea House B.B.Q., located in Irvine, California, is a design project built from materials meant to abide by the city of Irvine’s building safety codes. The design and layout of The Korea House B.B.Q is the result of collaborated effort between the owner of Korea House and interior designers hired for the project. Twenty individual tables are arranged in the main hall, and beautiful wooden partitions about four feet and five inches tall each provide privacy to each table by creating booths. On the left side of the main hall there are two, large, private rooms which were created for larger parties as well as customers seeking a more private setting. Being a Korean barbeque house, individual barbeque grills are placed at each table. As a safety measure, the restaurant is equipped with a sprinkler system and individual fans at each table’s barbeque grill. The wallpaper used in the reception area looks like an oriental style painting depicting greenery and wildlife; it was chosen for its cultural relevance as well as its organic theme. The wallpaper, as well as several potted plants and an oriental style cabinet at the entrance of the restaurant are meant to give visitors a taste of the beauty and elegance of the Korean culture.

The materials and products chosen for this particular project reflect a natural theme by using darker, achromatic colors with dimly lit areas. Once, one enters through the wooden framed double doors of the restaurant, there is a mat lining the floor which is meant to allow customers to keep any dirt from their shoes off of the restaurant’s wooden floors; also, it provides a place for customers to dry their shoes on rainy days. As the entrance is close to the main hallway of the restaurant, the mat helps to maintain the quality of the restaurant’s hard wood floors.

They chose granite as the materials of their tables and their front desk’s counter top. This was a wise choice because of granite’s durability and heat resistance. This is very important, given the barbeque grills, which are centrally placed in each table get very hot and several dishes are served in large boiling pots which are also placed in the center grill. Another advantage of using granite, is the fact that it is easy to clean and maintain which is of an important factor in a restaurant setting.

The booths have high backs which create a feeling of luxury in the restaurant and give customers a more intimate and comfortable place to enjoy when seated. The upholstery lining the booths and chairs is made of a very thick, fire retardant, patterned material and looks very durable; the pattern and color of the upholstery was wisely chosen because of its ability to camouflage dirt and resist fire, while still looking luxurious and matching the atmosphere and color scheme of the restaurant. All the walls are covered in an organically themed ivory colored material that is also fire retardant.

The restaurant uses recessed lights as its main source of lighting in the restaurant as well as soffit lights for low lights, and pendent lights on side walls in order to create an intimate and elegant atmosphere. During daylight hours, the restaurant utilizes the natural lighting through the use of the front entrance doors. The front entrance’s wide double doors are made with miniature glass windows so that during the afternoon, light streams through the glass windows lighting up the restaurant creating a warm, bright atmosphere during the day time. Also, at the very front of the restaurant, there is a wall that is partially wooden and partially glass. The wooden portion is four feet and five inches which is level with the wooden partitioning of the booths, while the top glass portion of the wall extends another foot and a half. This wall blocks wind from the entrance and helps to keep the temperature inside the restaurant warm. It was wisely made with both function and form in mind because it serves its purpose of maintaining the internal temperature of the restaurant while still providing entering customers with a clear view of the restaurant, following the restaurant’s natural and fluid theme.

Also, though the walnut hard wood flooring is a perfect match with the restaurant’s organically themed achromatic color scheme, there are problems with using hard wood flooring in a restaurant. Since they use chairs for private rooms instead of booths with built in seating, the chairs leaves scratch marks on the floor from customers constantly moving their chairs back and forth, and such scratches are obviously not restorable. Also, especially because it is a barbecue restaurant, the floor is exposed to oil every day and hard wood flooring does not provide slip resistance, which could be dangerous to customers wearing high heels. Due to oil buildup, they have to clean the floors with soap and water every day, meaning the beautiful hard wood floor probably won’t last for a long time.


They chose red quarry tile for their kitchen flooring. As quarry tile is fired at high temperatures, it is a great choice for kitchen flooring because of it is highly heat resistant; also the pores of quarry tile help absorb moisture. The restaurant also uses rubber mats, which are placed on top of the tiles to prevent from the slipping and provide grip.

Overall, the products and materials used in The Korea House B.B.Q. were well chosen for the theme and color. The natural theme along with the dim lighting and hard wood floors create a peaceful atmosphere which is meant to give customers an enjoyable and relaxing dining experience.

Bibliography:

about quarry tile

wall covering

hardwood flooring

benefits of granite