&pizza
Artisanal pizza chain &pizza has built a strong reputation on the east coast of America for its distinctive oval-shaped pizzas.
Available to eat in or take out, the pizzas are ready in 3 minutes and are handcrafted using locally-sourced, natural ingredients. To complement the food offering, &pizza destinations are individually created with bold and contemporary designs that serve to add to the customer experience.
The brand currently has two sites in New York City, at Astor Place and Nomad. Designed by Ecology Architecture Urbanism (EAU), the industrial style look blends functionality with a design very much in keeping with the brand’s ethos. To find out more, Premier Hospitality spoke to EAU Founder Jeffrey White:
“&Pizza was an established brand with 21 built locations around the DC area. EAU was hired to design the first 2 NYC projects with this project (&Pizza NOMAD) being the first. The brief was to take the existing language and design “standards” developed over the first 21 locations and create something that is on brand but contextual to this particular site in addition to providing a splash and something special as the first location in a new city.
“The site is long and linear so we wanted to design and create main elements that take advantage and express this. The seating was combined into 1 long communal table suspended from 2 exposed columns. The floating table is expressive but also functional, as being free of legs, allows for more uninterrupted seating. We hung large Norman Copenhagen Pendant lights over the tables to ground it and perceptually carve out a space within the space.
“The other main linear design element is the recessed (within recycled acoustic panelling) LED ceiling lighting. We ran the lighting lengthwise, again to accentuate the linear nature of the space and the ordering queue, but played a game of crisscrossing and weaving that feels striking and hopefully draws ones eye in from the street. The outcome is a series of conditions that in a way mimics the street grid of this location’s most iconic feature – the Flatiron Building.”
Thanks to a collaboration with local NYC artists, specially created pieces have been integrated into the site and help breakup moments within the linear nature of the space. The Nomad store was recently nominated for a Restaurant & Bar Design Award in the ‘Americas’ category, a huge achievement as Jeffrey explained:
“It is an honour! The name of our company EAU stands for ecology, architecture and urbanism and every project, no matter how big or small, has an impact on these three seemingly disparate aspects of the built environment. Being nominated means we (hopefully) designed and created a space that enhances the neighbourhood’s social ecology and is a positive aspect of New York City’s urban fabric.”
To view more projects from EAU, please visit www.thisiseau.org.
&pizza
&pizza was founded in America’s capital Washington, D.C. in 2012. In the relatively short time since, the brand has attracted a dedicated following keen to sample its signature oval-shaped pizzas created using natural, locally-sourced ingredients.
&pizza has stores in multiple locations along the east coast of America, including Boston, Washington, Maryland, New York, Philadelphia and Virginia. &pizza’s food has regularly been acknowledged through award recognition. For more information, please visit www.andpizza.com.
