PUBLIC Restaurant

PUBLIC, design overview

AvroKO?s first self-propelled project, PUBLIC launched the firm into the design and restaurant industries? consciousness with its highly original design and inventive international cuisine. Inspired by the municipal institutions of the ?30s and ?40s, the space highlights the beauty of elements culled from post offices, libraries, and civic buildings, while embracing its own industrial past. In an unprecedented sweep for a single firm, AvroKO won the James Beard Awards for ?Outstanding Restaurant Design? and ?Outstanding Restaurant Graphics.? Since its opening in 2003, PUBLIC has continued to be a mainstay of New York?s restaurant scene.

Inspired by the civic-minded governments and communities of the past, PUBLIC draws upon a time when institutions could be depended upon for the greater good. It is the embodiment of AvroKO?s desire to make quality food a common commodity. Thus, all things municipal came to inform the architecture, materials, and graphics.

Award-winning design and concept firm AvroKO has given the word ?versatile? a whole new meaning as it navigates the world of design. The brainchild of four college friends with a mutual passion for innovative design, AvroKO has established a new paradigm for the industry, encompassing a multitude of disciplines and creating thoughtful, provocative architecture, brands, products, and environments. Each of the four partners ? William Harris, Greg Bradshaw, Kristina O?Neal and Adam Farmerie ? lends a distinct expertise to the company, resulting in a uniquely multifaceted creative approach that has earned them a place amongst ?The Originals? in The New York Times Style Magazine. Since its launch in 2000, AvroKO has earned a reputation as one of the most forward-thinking design firms in the field, due in large part to the group?s self-styled integrated design process, viewing each project from all angles and then elaborating upon the concept from the inside out.

AvroKO functions as an ?idea engine,? generating creativity and momentum for its two types of projects, self-propelled and client-driven. The ambitious spirit that drives AvroKO, and sets it apart, inspires the firm to create and pursue its own opportunities through these self-propelled projects. The first, PUBLIC, is a restaurant wholly conceived, designed, owned and operated by AvroKO. AvroKO?s design work for PUBLIC swept the James Beard Awards ? the hospitality industry?s most prestigious honor ? when they walked off with the awards for Best Restaurant Design and Best Restaurant Graphics, an unheard-of accomplishment for a single firm. In the year following, AvroKO unveiled two more self-propelled projects. The Transport Series, AvroKO?s first foray into furniture design, was motivated by a deep admiration of early 1900s automotive innovations and created with a subtle, modern twist. smart.space was an exploration of modern, space-efficient residential architecture for New York studio apartments, fully outfitted with lifestyle amenities to encourage healthy and organized living.

AvroKO?s broad repertoire of client-driven projects runs the gamut and has established the firm as a major creative force. Perhaps most well known for its work in restaurant design, the firm was bestowed a coveted spot on New York Magazine?s list of ?The Influentials 2006: The Most Influential People in Food,? in recognition of the group?s work for such leading New York restaurants as The Stanton Social, Sapa, Odea, Quality Meats, and The European Union.

AvroKO is constantly pushing its boundaries and seeking to apply its signature brand of design innovation to a wide variety of projects. Most recently, AvroKO has worked with the most prominent names in the hospitality industry, such as Starwood, W Hotels, and DestiNY, on pioneering new hotel concepts and design. Whether designing office and retail space for such clients as Hungry Man and KidRobot or collaborating with such leading brands as Coty, Trojan, Starbucks, and L?Oreal on concept and brand development, art direction, and graphic design, AvroKO has perfected the art of integrated design through multiple dimensions, emerging with designs that are both intelligent and inventive.