PROJECT: Isono and vasco

Hong Kong restaurants Isono and Vasco represent the latest offering from rising interior design star Joyce Wang, whose Mott 32 Bar & Restaurant in Hong Kong was awarded the World Interior of the Year at the INSIDE World Festival of Interiors in 2014.

Isono and Vasco are located in the Police Married Quarters complex in Hong Kong. Isono serves Basque-influenced food, while Vasco offers a Spanish fine dining experience.

“For Isono, we used rustic interiors, raw materials and an open-plan design to convey a relaxed vibe that is conducive to communal dining,” says Wang. Vasco is a more formal space, with two semi private dining rooms and two entirely private rooms.

“Gold, burnt caramel, deep green and tar reference the ageing process of Spain’s celebrated olive oil but also reference the dominant palette of colours evident in the mid-century era in Europe and in the US,” says Wang.

Mott 32 is located in the basement of the Standard Central Bank in central Hong Kong, and is reached via a long escalator and stairwell. To counter the absence of natural light in the space, Wang introduced two architectural octagonal skylights, which can be lit to simulate daylight or dimmed during the evening.

The venue features a variety of spaces, including the tangerine room, the mah jong private dining room, the main dining room and the alcoves, which are divided using screens.

For Wang, it’s important to reference the history of the areas the projects are located in, but also to look to the future. “It’s very important for our studio’s projects to pay tribute to their past, but also be forward-looking. To us, a project should essentially be both, so it’s contradictory, but at the same time it can create a really surrealist feeling, making people dream and ponder and take their time to intellectually think about a space.”

Wang launched her practice, Joyce Wang, in 2011. Other projects include the renovation of the Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood, California; AMMObar and restaurant, Hong Kong; and a number of private residences.

“My inspirations come from film, music, fashion, and from spending time with people who engross themselves in these mediums,” says Wang. “I get excited when I work with talented individuals – designers, craftsmen, fabricators, artists, clients – and when I hear their personal take on the value of design.”