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Saikai Izakaya Design de Interiores de Restaurante by Pang Ka I

Saikai Izakaya Design de Interiores de Restaurante by Pang Ka I is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award de Bronze in Design de Espaços Interiores e Exposições Competition Category.


BronzeInterior· 2026

Saikai Izakaya Design de Interiores de Restaurante

by Pang Ka I

Client: Decologics Stuido

A' Design Award de Bronze Winner in Interior Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #177234

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The Design

About Saikai Izakaya Design de Interiores de Restaurante

O Saikai Izakaya é um interior de restaurante em Lisboa, Portugal. O espaço compacto de 263,57 metros quadrados divide-se em 23 cenários interligados, inspirados numa aldeia piscatória japonesa. Os clientes entram por uma fachada de mercado revestida a palha e percorrem um bar, latadas de refeição, uma zona de refeições com um barco de pesca à escala real e uma caixa de escadas de pé-direito duplo iluminada por lanternas. Conjuntos modulares, paredes suaves em cerâmica, madeira antiga de embarcações e pavimento de cimento tingido com café criam texturas envelhecidas a baixo custo. A disposição modular orienta a circulação e respeita o edifício patrimonial.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Bronze

Saikai Izakaya Design de Interiores de Restaurante conquistou o A' Design Award de Bronze, um reconhecimento altamente prestigiado atribuído a designs notáveis que se distinguem pela criatividade, engenho e perspicácia. Os vencedores do Bronze são artefactos amplamente habilidosos e surpreendentemente criativos que comprovam a vasta experiência, imaginação e capacidade de iniciativa dos seus designers. Espera-se que Saikai Izakaya Design de Interiores de Restaurante seja um objeto muito considerado, admirado e estimado, notavelmente profissional e inovador. Este design vencedor do A' Design Award de Bronze incorpora as melhores práticas em arte, ciência, design e tecnologia e é excelente pela sua atenção ao detalhe. Saikai Izakaya Design de Interiores de Restaurante satisfaz esplendidamente necessidades, toca desejos, encanta sentimentos e desperta curiosidade.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

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.
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.
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.
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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