Office dA
The Upper Crust
Boston, Massachusetts

Photo courtesy Office dA

Located on historic Charles Street in Boston, Upper Crust is designed both as a neighborhood pizza joint and a “culinary boutique”. Given its sensitive location amongst a range of other high-end businesses, the establishment needs to address this paradoxical scenario through a design that is at once economical and extraordinary.

Photo courtesy Office dA

Exposed to the street through a large storefront vitrine, the main dining area is encased in two surfaces: a wood floor and an aluminum ceiling. Both floor and ceiling absorb multiple functions by way of continuous surfaces that navigate varied geometries in accordance to programmatic, technical, and spatial mandates. Cherry wood slats wrap down the wall as wainscoting, continue as flooring, and ascend onto a communal table for the clientele and terminate as a higher surface for the chef’s pounding board.

Photo courtesy Office dA

Drawing courtesy Office dA

Similarly, a suspended ceiling wraps the existing HVAC equipment, diffusers, and sprinkler heads creating a quilted canopy overhead. Fabricated from laser-cut aluminium panels, the folded and bent surface produces a continuous geometry appearing as a single figure. Both theatrical and monumental in composure, the ceiling and floor capitalize on their relationship with the street to make for a strong iconic presence.

Drawing courtesy Office dA

Completed: 2001

Office dA
Project Designers:
Monica Ponce de Leon
Nader Tehrani
Coordinator:
Hamad Al Sultan
Project Team:
Kristen Giannattasio

June 24, 2002