d+a | Issue 120 • 2021

89 is essential for staff to move across various sections of the restaurant with minimal disruption to the diners. To achieve that, the team incorporated many hidden, automatic sliding doors, which blend into the dark colour and textures of the existing walls, to provide access points for staff. “We started by mapping out the desired guest experience at Waku Ghin, from the moment they arrive, to either dining at The Bar or Chef’s Table, to when they would later adjourn to the dessert room overlooking the Marina Bay waterfront. “Based on this and Chef Tetsuya’s clear direction, we carved out the functional front and back of house spaces for different purposes, including the expansive kitchen, to accommodate the different culinary units,” Akao elaborates. While the team initially did not intend to fully divorce the new design concept from the previous one, the end result turned out to 03. Separating the main dining room from the bar area is a row of swivelling shelves with Japanese artist Shiro Tsujimura’s abstract calligraphy paintings installed on them. / 04. Made entirely from solid cherry wood, the seven-metre-long Chef’s Table was imported from Japan and crafted by experienced craftsmen from Shikoku. YOHEI AKAO, FOUNDER, STRICKLAND INC.