Pang Ka I · CLIENT: Decologics Stuido
Saikai Izakaya is a restaurant interior in Lisbon, Portugal. The compact space of 263.57 square meters is divided into 23 connected scenes inspired by a Japanese fishing village. Guests enter through a straw-clad market facade and move past a bar, dining trellises, a full-scale fishing boat dining zone and a double-height lantern stairwell. Modular sets, soft ceramic walls, antique boat wood and coffee-stained cement flooring create aged textures at low cost. The modular layout guides circulation and respects the heritage building.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Saikai lzakaya transforms a compact restaurant on Lisbon's busiest food street into a cinematic "time-travel" journey of 23 immersive scenes. Using modular sets, soft ceramic walls, fire-treated straw, and a life-size fishing boat, the design optimizes space, creates storytelling flow, and balances immersive experience with sustainability on a limited budget.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Area: 263.57 square meters. The project integrates modular displays, a double-height lantern stairwell, market-style facade with straw and tiles, bar counter, flexible dining trellises, and a 1:1 scale fishing boat dining zone. Designed for immersive storytelling flow, the technical properties emphasize modularity, sustainability, and heritage compliance.
- Tags
- Saikai Izakaya, Immersive Dining, Cinematic Design, Japanese Fishing Village, Soft Ceramic, Modular Furniture, Sustainable Restaurant, Lisbon, Time-Travel Experience, Spatial Storytelling
- Production Technology
- The project employed modular construction, soft ceramic faux walls, straw facades, antique boat wood, and coffee-stained cement flooring. Budget limits required reconfigurable props, detachable furniture, and low-cost aging techniques, achieving authentic textures while ensuring safety, sustainability, and immersive effect within a heritage-protected building.
- Design Challenge
- The main challenges were tight budget fifty-five thousand euros, heritage facade restrictions, and limited material supply. To overcome this, the team developed modular, reconfigurable sets, used soft ceramic and coffee-stained cement for low-cost authentic aging, and created slim facade lightboxes. These solutions balanced historical context, technical constraints, and immersive design goals.
- Project Duration
- The project started in February 2024 and finished in April, 2025 in Portugal.
- Operation Flow
- Guests enter through a straw-clad market facade and move seamlessly through eight immersive scenes: market foyer, bar, dining trellises, boat dining, and lantern tunnel. Each step reveals a new story chapter. Modular sets guide circulation, allowing diners to interact with the space, engage with narrative elements, and experience dining as participatory storytelling.
- Research
- This project explores how narrative-driven design can transform the limitations of a small restaurant into an immersive cultural journey. With a budget of fifty-five thousand euros, the team created 23 cinematic scenes using modular sets and sustainable materials. Research confirms that spatial storytelling enhances customer engagement, strengthens brand identity, and delivers measurable cultural and commercial value.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by an imagined Japanese fishing village where a samurai and geisha meet and reunite, the design translates this cinematic narrative into space. Drawing from Eastern philosophy on the fleeting nature of time, it invites diners to briefly escape daily life and become participants in a living story, turning a meal into an unforgettable journey.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Huijie Zhao, Saikai Izakaya, 2025.
Image #2: Photographer Huijie Zhao, Saikai Izakaya, 2025.
Image #3: Photographer Huijie Zhao, Saikai Izakaya, 2025.
Image #4: Photographer Huijie Zhao, Saikai Izakaya, 2025.
Image #5: Photographer Huijie Zhao, Saikai Izakaya, 2025.
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