Nok Nok Thai Eating House

Nok Nok Thai Eating House is a contemporary restaurant envisioned by Giant Design and located in Sydney, Australia. ‘Not another dark Thai restaurant’ was the brief. In a sea of Thai food spaces, the creation of a space that felt both light and airy, and garden like, yet intimate and inviting was the key point of difference.

With a fairly loose brief Giant design set about researching all things Thai, searching for those elements that were both uniquely Thai, and underexposed here in Sydney. After intensive research it seemed the only remaining architectural archetype not yet re-imagined in the Thai restaurant scene, was the Thai temple, all shining white marble and gold mosaics.

The simple palate of off white marble, Corian® colour – Witch Hazel, gold and silver mirror, and gold Alucabond is used to maximum effect to create the contemporary ‘Temple’. Corian® by DuPont is used extensively throughout, cladding furniture, tabletops, and walls, allowing for seamless transitions across the surfaces and adding to the ‘stone temple’ feel. For the wall cladding the Corian® is lasercut into an intricate lotus leaf motif pattern that had to be adapted and adjusted to suit the required panel widths throughout the space.

Behind the lasercut panels lies silver and gold mirror creating depth, lightness, and the perfect spot for people watching. The mirror ceiling allows the pattern to continue vertically and creates a huge central volume of space. Fig & Wisteria trees cut into the middle of the central communal table soften the space & lights suspended in the branches provide twinkle at night. The showcase kitchen pulled to the front of the space, sits within a gold tiled box, opposite upholstered booths that are both intimate, yet open.

Nok Nok is named after the owner and translates as ‘little bird’, which is then visualised in the graphic identity. It is playfully used in signage and print on menus and cards along with the play on the words for ‘Nok Nok’.