Sumit Singhal Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.
Yard House, The Banks in Cincinnati, Ohio by MBH Architects
September 15th, 2013 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: UpSpring PR
Q: What would be three words to describe the look/design of this location of Yard House?
A: Open Industrial Chic
Q: What was the space prior to becoming Yard House, The Banks?
A: A field of grass
Q: When did the restaurant officially open?
A: April 2013
Q: How is this location different from others? Is the restaurant set on one level or multiple levels?
A: The site is in an incredible location; at 50 Freedom Way it sits with the Bengals’ Paul Brown Stadium a block to the west, the Red’s Great American Ball Park a block to the east, and the Ohio River a block to the south. The restaurant patio has incredible views of the Bengals’ stadium, and the site slopes slightly to the south, giving patrons a great view of the Ohio River and the Roebling Bridge. On this site, the freestanding restaurant is one level, and is quite large; it has a very large bar with 180 taps, and an extensive patio that takes advantage of the views.
Q: How many does it seat?
A: 514 inside / 199 outside
Q: What was Yard House’s design intent/objectives?
A: They wanted to maximize the views of the football stadium and the river, and also capture spectator / pedestrian exposure at the Banks and around the stadiums.
Q: Where did the team draw inspiration from for the space?
A: The physical location – the team focused on how to take the YH design and maximize the use of the view, the sightlines, and the potential for foot traffic.
Q: Can you talk about the restaurant’s architecture and facade?
A: Yard House’s design and look is a sort of industrial chic – playing with idea of creating a bold and authentic look that has a rustic sensibility.
Q: What were the biggest challenges when working on this project? How did the team overcome them?
A: One of the challenges was to get 360 degree sightlines when a large portion of the space needs to be a kitchen and bar. Additionally, Yard House wanted to be open for the first pitch of the Cincinnati Red’s season, meaning that we had to do construction during the winter. Building in the cold can be challenging, especially when snow has to be noted on your site reports.
Q: Can you talk about the color and material palettes?
A: The space is industrial and dark, with rusted and hammered metal, wood and concrete, balanced with refined millwork and stainless steel. This palette of darker, cooler tones is balanced out by the vibrant original artwork, and when the space is filled with people and food it brings life and movement to the space.
Q: Can you walk me through the furnishings and why they were selected?
A: The furnishings selected were primarily Yard House’s signature elements: fans from Big Ass Fans, and art by Jerome Gastaldi. Gastaldi is a contemporary American artist who creates the Yard House art collection, and his vibrant designs in the restaurants reflect regional elements in every city. In his art for this Yard House, you can see references to the Bengals, and the local sports teams.
Q: How was Yard House’s branding worked into the space?
A: As usual, Yard House Cincinnati has the typical central bar with perimeter booth seating, and a visible keg room with beer conduits running from the bar to the keg room. It was a challenge to route the beer conduits, because we wanted to make it visually interesting in the space, instead of being a straight shot from the bar to the keg room. Customers enjoy the quirky elements of Yard House spaces, and like to trace the conduits across the ceiling, so we wanted to give them something which would make the space more interesting.
Q: What is the signage like?
A: We have exposure on all four sides, so that the restaurant is immediately recognizable to anyone going to or coming from either the baseball stadium or the football stadium. On the backside there is a large yard glass, one of their signature elements which they often use as a door pull. In this instance, we have the yard glass as a large aluminum sculpture as well, so that signature element is widely visible as a branding device.
Q: Walking through Yard House, what are the biggest project highlights?
A: The 360 degree views, the Big Ass fans, the beer conduits, the large bar, the keg room, and the large patio.
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