AMMO Restaurant – Hong Kong

Addicted To Retail (ATR) presents: AMMO Restaurant by Joyce Wang in Hong Kong.

Interior Designer Joyce Wang made her appearance on the design scene 3 years ago. Conceiving the WANG design practice, her career commenced the other way round as one would say. The beginning of Joyce’s career was marked with the successful completion of a 60-room hotel renovation in Los Angeles; an international award from the well known INTERIOR DESIGN Magazine for an office space in Hong Kong and a commission from one of the most respected property developers also from Hong Kong. The majority of designers build a gradual process towards the ID awards with a trail of great projects in their portfolio. This practice however is one of those cases that bear exception to this rule. With force, attention to detail and determination, Wang has accomplished a number of successful projects over the 3 years.

The Hong Kong Asia Society commissioned NY based architects Todd Williams & Billie Tsien to create a landmark building as a home for their new headquarters. The result is a magnificent architectural feature with an opportunity for unique and creative interior experimentation. With this in mind, Wang fulfilled all the interior expectations for context and historic significance where the level of detailing and atmospheric presence of the past lead to an interior that is like no other. Following both a dramatic and a dynamic approach, this 6m high restaurant brings inspiration and excitement even to the most undesign-trained eye. The source of inspiration for AMMO was derived from a science fiction film noir masterpiece directed by Jean-Luc Godard known as ‘Alphaville’. This particular 1960’s influence is one of the jewel attributes as to why this space has such importance.

Upon entrance, your attention is drawn to the three custom built sculptural spiral staircase chandeliers purely constructed out of copper plumbing pipes. Throughout ‘Alphaville’ the notion of the spiral staircase recurs with a great sense of illustrated motion and change of scene. Here the miniscule scale of detailing is truly what Joyce Wang is characterized for. Each staircase pays tribute to the element of its kind: 1. to the threads 2. to the risers, and 3. to the bannisters. Another very successful historic reference is the bunker-like ceiling. Supported by copper ribs, this structure is very warmly lit giving reference to the explosive magazine history. With all these features including the great-sculpted motif behind the bar, the diner is left to interpret and compare his interpretations as to the inherent historic values. The result? One can daydream for hours on end, as the product given for inspiration is great.

Conceived from such great influences and then incorporated with great tribute, this leads to a production level that is truly admired. It is therefore not difficult to understand why we chose this project to introduce Joyce Wang’s great entrance into our world.

*Photos by WANG, AMMO

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