The design brief was to create a 135-cover modern Japanese restaurant in the heart of Malta’s capital, Valletta. The brief also included a 20-cover private dining room and two bars: a spritz bar at entrance level to entice you in from the street; and a lounge bar at the lower ground floor level, adjoining the restaurant. AKI takes its name from 'akitsu', meaning ‘dragonfly’ in Japanese, and a key aim of the brief was to reflect the elegance and sophistication of the dragonfly in the interior finishes and ambience.
The corner site occupies the lower ground floor of a heritage building in the heart of the Valletta’s historic old town, with only limited frontage at street level. A key design challenge was therefore how to animate this restricted frontage and create a theatrical arrival to the restaurant / bar below. A further challenge lay in the creation of an appropriate design response to the evolving Japanese-Peruvian culinary sensation, Nikkei, that the restaurant is host to.
Opened in February 2020, the 270 sq m realised design transports diners from the intense sunlight of the street to the carefully controlled light and ambiance of the restaurant below. The arrival bar and entrance sequence features 40 delicate paper-thin Japanese lanterns floating above a triple height entrance, illuminating the way. The restaurant itself is flanked by a sustainably sourced inky black timber ‘cage’ featuring delicate dragonfly wing patterning, dividing the dining room and lounge bar. A large-scale bespoke koi fish mural features on the end wall.
All the information about how to enter the 2020 WIN Awards is here.
We are very happy to offer support so please don’t hesitate to email Georgia, WIN Awards Event Coordinator with any questions at Georgia.Baily@haymarket.com.
Last year more than 40 countries took part in the WIN Awards with strong showings from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. And we saw some truly outstanding interior designs, take a look at the winners from last year here.