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744 Williamson Street, Madison Wisconsin


The site for this restaurant was an interior space within a historic candy factory that had gone through several recent decades as a retail equipment warehouse. Fortunately, the building had been maintained structurally. This gave us the freedom to concentrate on giving new life to the existing exposed beam structure, wood flooring, and brick walls.

The design solution centered around a study of the building and the space within, looking honestly at the materials and weaving a design around the integrity that existed.

Among the many challenges to the design was the need to create warmth and light in a more industrial building type. Cleaning and sandblasting original surfaces removed the grime of years spent operating next to a coal-fired power plant. Our intent was not to make everything new but to bring the materials to a state of patina, creating the glow and romance of age.

Lighting was concealed by architectural detail, primarily through incorporating a light source within the exposed beams, creating a "filtered sunlight" or lattice effect.

Through use of textural finishing and patina wash, the wall finishes by Texan artist Ed Martens also add to the overall atmosphere. The gold color palette used enhances the glow of the space while deep blue suggests western skies under a campfire.

An etched back bar, shadow boxes with western memorabilia and use of leather and conchos on the booths are just a few of the details that add to the design solution. These materials, colors and details help enhance a sense of history that evokes images rather than pushing them literally into consciousness, evoking the romance and mystique of a time based perhaps more in myth than reality.




Project: Architectural Interior
Square Footage: 3800
Architect: Linville Architects, LLC
Artist for Wall Treatments: Ed Martens
Light Fixture and Metals Fabricator: Custom Metals
Contractor: Krupp Construction
Photographers: Zane Williams