Restaurant Porn is a regular column of daydreams presented as a means to introduce Vancouver diners and designers to concepts, looks, and fully-formed ideas that they might draw an inkling of inspiration from. We do our best to pair the foreign rooms with local addresses so as to let everyone in on the daydream.

—————————————

(via) Despite the fact that Vancouver offers myriad beautiful commutes, there is something especially attractive about being able to live where you work. It might be a little weird for some customers knowing the proprietor sleeps on site. It doesn’t happen as much these days, but once upon a time that’s how most businesses of this nature operated. And weird is good, especially when it’s buttressed by great design, as it is here.

WHAT IT IS: A new (2016) building that includes a cafe on the main floor and a home for the two owners (and their five cats) on the second and third floors. Both are finished in red oak and anchored by no small amount of raw and polished concrete. Named “Louverwall” by the designers (Euiyeob Jeong and Taekyoung Lee of South Korean architecture firm AND) on account of its functional cladding, it sees aluminum slats hugging its curvaceous exterior and controlling the amount of light allowed within.

WHERE IT IS: On a residential street in the city of Paju, which is home to nearly half a million people in the South Korean province of Gyeonggi.

WHERE WE WISH IT WAS: The mixed residential/light industrial zone east of Clark Drive between Strathcona and Commercial Drive.

WHY WE WISH IT WAS THERE: Selfishness, pure and simple. We live/work in the area and could always use more options for coffee, snacks and respite from ritual — not to mention good design to gawk at. As we’ve recently noted, this tiny section of the city will soon land an offshoot of Timbertrain Coffee (called Depot Cafe) and the highly anticipated new Earnest Ice Cream facility. The more the merrier!

Photography is by Shinkyungsub.