The harmony of perception

The meeting of hygge and zen in the city center | Yuru Sushi & Sake Bar

THE Noumen Studio his latest project is a sushi and sake bar with a special atmosphere, which was created on the first floor of an apartment building with an inner courtyard in Budapest’s 5th district. It was born from the conversion of a sterile office space with a depressed atmosphere Yuru, which serves as a hidden “sanctuary” for those fleeing the hustle and bustle of the city center. The special metamorphosis is presented by the designers.

The essence of the spatial world is the Yuru sushi the history of its makers, who learned the art of sushi making in various highly rated Danish restaurants, thus offering an opportunity for the fusion of different cultures. Inspired by this, the designers combined the Danish hygge its homely warmth and pleasant comfort is Japanese Zen with its meditative, transcendental world — thus creating the Yuru familiar yet novel world.

The space can be divided into three main parts: the terrace stretching along the long corridor overlooking the inner courtyard, an inner world with a surface area of ​​only 30 square meters, the focal point of which is a gently undulating counter, and the back kitchen directly accessible from here.

When designing the terrace, the basic intention was to carefully separate it from the inner courtyard of the building and to ensure a clean, calm appearance, which replaces the original cacophony of the square with a restrained, uniform appearance organized with generous gestures.

The most important elements shaping the space are the transparent screen wall made of wooden slats, which provides protection against exposure to the inner courtyard, and the canvas installation waving overhead, which on the one hand covers the existing plastic covering, and on the other hand is responsible for ensuring pleasant lighting by reflecting the LED lighting hidden in the suspended wooden poles. .

The terrace and the interior become one by expanding the original window openings and then generously reshaping them, and by coordinating the different colors and textures of the handmade wall plasters, it provides a harmonious transition between the outside and the inside. This harmony is enhanced by the design of the doors, where the rhythm of the outside world meets the plasticity of the interior.

When designing the interior, the process of making sushi came into focus: the space is organized by a high counter, the focal point of which is a sushi cooler. The centrality of the space is one James Turrell-inspired skylight and are enhanced by the contour of the solid wood shelves peaking towards the center. The designers used unique wooden cubes as the floor covering of the interior, which combines the structure of the basalt cubes of the pedestrian street outside with the softer acoustics of a softer material.

THE Noumen Studio Since its foundation in 2022, it has been actively dealing with the effects of the built environment on humans, the central concept of which is atmosphere. The design and implementation of Yuru is an important experimental milestone of the research:

today, both neuro- and cognitive sciences confirm that our spatial perception takes place through our entire body, through the simultaneous operation of all our senses, so here too we focused on the possibilities of multisensoriality, the components of the spatial atmosphere.

Hidden spotlights highlight the dynamic, organic spatial geometry; the plaster that preserves human hand movements, the solid wood surfaces, and the rounded shapes encourage touch. The wooden elements (partition wall, floor, elbows, shelves) are Japanese shou sugi ban they were burnt with a technique, thus ensuring durability in addition to the unique aroma. The already mentioned unique wooden cube floor combined with the gently curved structured wall surfaces provides acoustic isolation from the noisy outside world. The full harmony of perception is completed by the flavors of Yuru’s cuisine.

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