JAX JOLTS—New Wagner Murray Design
New Tavern: Belmont, North Carolina
Next In the LaVecchia Family’s Collection of Restaurants
Opening Gala a Neighborhood Hit!
Saturday, August 7—A tavern can be best described as a place, convivial and friendly, short on attitude and long on comfort. The designers placed great emphasis on making it a lively space with an animated atmosphere. JAX has a deliberately unassuming exterior. It may be hard to find, but once it is discovered, it will draw you in. One guest at the opening described it as “the happiest place in Belmont.”
Flatiron Kitchen and Tap House
DAVIDSON, NORTH CAROLINA
New Restaurant Design Delights, Inspires and Entertains
Wagner Murray Architects Creates Features and Focal Points to Enhance Triangular Building Plan
Being playful and being whimsical aids the creative process. It allows non-programmed opportunities to emerge. Being tuned to the specific design needs of the project can be a springboard to serendipity, the faculty of making discoveries by accident.
Michael LaVecchia and his partner, Chad Hollingsworth, along with Dawn LaVecchia and Tim Groody have established a landmark/ destination in Davidson, North Carolina. A unique, triangular shaped plan, the name of the restaurant recalls the famous design of the Flatiron Building in lower Manhattan.
The designers saw an opportunity to take this plan and create a restaurant that enhances its unique geometric shape. An octagonal shaped bar creates the focal point as the customer enters on the apex of the triangle. In the center of the bar, a 25 tap copper, stainless and glass beer tower creates a significant special effect to the design of the restaurant. The entry/reception contains a custom-designed, fabricated and assembled lighting fixture by the architect’s design team. Three hundred and sixty faceted triangular shapes create a stunning visual effect with this illuminated feature. Architect/artist David Wagner provided all of the original drawings for the restaurant which were inspired by Tim Groody’s inventive menu. Each sketch depicts a specific serving of food captioned to the menu. The new restaurant seats 135 patrons.
Copper, glass, stainless steel Beer Tower adds whimsy and interest to the octagonal centerpiece bar.
Multi-faceted Flatiron chandelier provides a unique lighting effect in the entry/reception area.
Original artwork by David Wagner adorns the walls.
Floor plan showing the organization and layout of the Flatiron Restaurant.
Pisces Sushi Bar & Lounge Opens at the Metropolitan
WMA traces abstract imagery to enhance design concept
Pisces Sushi Bar & Lounge opened April 7 in The Metropolitan, a new mixed use development near downtown Charlotte. The 2,900 SF design consists of a number of visually derived elements. Sourced from the symbols and images of Eastern calligraphy and the colorful palette of food, the space provides a visually exciting template for this dynamic new restaurant. The washed rock wall and bar tops resemble the natural and created forms of oriental design.
Pisces Sushi Bar & Lounge
Hickory Grove Public Library Opens!
The new Hickory Grove Branch library opened with great fanfare on February 6, 2010. A 16,000 square foot regional library is the first in a series of new regional libraries which are being developed by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system.
The building is a new sustainable model and incorporates a number of features that are changing the use and dynamics of the regional library concept. Heavy on IT and social and study areas, the library will support a range of ages and demographics from young children (pre-school) to senior citizens. Various program rooms have been assigned for each of these age groups.
Wagner Murray Architects also designed all of the furniture and fixtures within the library, including the Learning Tree in the Children’s Area.
Signage throughout the library describes specific sustainable and recycled features and products within the building, including ceiling, wall and floor finishes, as well as programmed controls on lighting and HVAC systems.
Library Exterior
Children and adults gather under the Learning Tree.
A universal message is broadcast to the passerby, in the library's central reading room.
Crowds gather in the library.
This pamphlet is available at the library checkout and provides a brief primer to library users and visitors on the benefits of energy efficient and sustainable design. ©Wagner Murray Architects
Further Reading:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/277/story/1168962.html
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/galleries/gallery/1222348.html?img=1
Bechtler Museum of Modern Art Opens!
The new Bechtler Museum of Modern Art opened on January 2nd with great fanfare. Thousands of people attended the inaugural free admission day to view the collection of Andreas Bechtler and his family. Mario Botta, the design architect for the project, was in attendance. Wagner Murray Architects is the architect-of-record for the project. As a firm, we were excited to participate in this iconic project for Charlotte, North Carolina. Andreas Bechtler, benefactor to the museum with his art collection, stated that he was delighted that Mario Botta, the renowned Swiss architect, was able to design his second building in the United States (first building, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) and that Wagner Murray Architects, a firm based in Charlotte, was able to participate in executing this commission.
Exterior view of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art
Crowds gather outside the museum for the grand opening
(from left to right) Michael Godfrey, curator Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, David Wagner, principal Wagner Murray Architects, John David Wagner, David Wagner’s son and architecture student at Virginia Tech and Mario Botta, design architect for the Bechtler Museum.
Further Reading:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/165/story/1155707.html
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/408/story/1157175.html
