The new settings couldn't be more different: a modern, glass & aluminum storefront on Union Square, and the ground floor of an older, mixed-use brick building on Chestnut Street.
An architecture firm with the know-how to maintain the design qualities of the Rulli image –one that could give both locations the unique look and feel so critical to Rulli’s highly successful Bay Area branding – was needed. Architecture & Light’s Hospitality Studio, with its extensive restaurant design experience, intimate knowledge of restaurant operations and integrative relationship with the firm’s Lighting Design Studio, was commissioned to meet the challenge.
Rulli on Union
Square
Situated in the heart of San Francisco’s Downtown, the Union Square
Rulli caters to busy business people, shoppers and tourists, offering
authentic fare in the fast, efficient manner of a traditional Italian
cafe. Since a majority of the location’s business is of the take-out
variety, interior seating is limited to 12; on dry weather days, up to
28 more patrons can enjoy their beverages, pastries and light meals at
the cafe’s outdoor tables.
The design team employed a combination of light and color both to draw
the attention of passers-by to the cafe as well as to convey the warmth
and beauty of the interior. The indirectly-lit yellow-gold ceiling, architectural
coves and upper walls give off an attractive glow that serves as a warm,
visually compelling beacon that catches the eye – and the interest
-- of people in the vicinity. As prospective patrons come closer, the
beauty of the authentic Italian millwork and marble floors communicate
the sense that this is a unique establishment of high quality and good
taste, promising Italian food and drink of exceptional quality and authenticity.
Rulli on Chestnut Street
The program for Emporio Rulli’s Marina District location was significantly different than that of the Union Square establishment. Located in a heavily residential mixed-use neighborhood, this establishment needed to cater to a more relaxed, sit-down experience, and called for indoor seating for 60 and outdoor seating for another 40.
Located in a four-story brick structure, the two-story ground floor had served as a bank branch, with the main area of the cafe space interrupted by a large concrete bank vault. Since removing the vault would have been both expensive and time consuming, the design team decided to celebrate the privacy offered by the vault by transforming it into an elegant private dining room.
To create a sense of volume that would be interpreted as elegantly authentic, the central space was opened to the second story, creating a Grand Cafe Space complete with Venetian ceiling murals, blown glass chandelier, tall arched windows, imported marble floors and Italian mahogany cabinetry. Tall arched windows and doors were installed to connect the central space with the patio, and the ceiling was framed-out with a large, indirectly lighted ellipse containing a mural painted in the authentic 18th Century Venetian manner . . . with a Venetian Glass chandelier descending from its center. All the highly polished mahogany millwork was designed and built in Italy, as were the marble floors and marble accent wall panels.
By melding three retail environments – food & beverage, pasticceria and enoteca, with distinctly different dining environments, and by offering fast-service fare, patrons are provided with a perception of high value within an authentic and elegant --yet casual – setting that fully communicates the essence of the Rulli brand.
For more information about these unique Emporio Rulli projects – as well as the newest Rulli location we’re designing for San Francisco International Airport – please call Mark Stevens, Principal of Architecture & Light’s Hospitality Design Studio. He’ll be happy to tell you how we can provide innovative solutions to your hospitality project challenges, too.
