The TsDL restaurant appeared in the 1930s as a cafe at the Writers 'Union, located in the Olsufievs' mansion in 1886-1887. Almost immediately, this place became very popular: famous writers not only dined here, but also read their manuscripts here, celebrated anniversaries, and argued heatedly. The walls of the Central House of Writers remember Tvardovsky, Zoshchenko, Sholokhov, Okudzhava, as well as Niels Bohr, Marlene Dietrich, Indira Gandhi and many other celebrities. After the change of the political system, the restaurant retained for a long time the ponderous aura of the era of stagnation: there was a very expensive cuisine here, and the interior supported sky-high prices with a condovian pathos of velvet curtains and oak panels. When the owner of the establishment changed last year, the question of updating the "face" became immediate. Developing a fundamentally different gastronomic concept for the Central House of Writers, restaurateur Alexei Zimin turned to WOWHAUS with a request to create a bright, challenging, but at the same time easily replaceable interior, focused on a new audience of the restaurant - creative industry workers aged 25-45.
The nontriviality of this task was that the new interior should not have crossed out, let alone completely supplant the historical decoration. An architectural monument and just a very significant place for Russian culture had to be preserved, so all the original elements of the neo-Gothic interior - oak panels, fireplaces, chandeliers (including the one that they wanted to decorate Komsomolskaya with at first) - amicably migrated to the project of its renovation. before the architects actually got down to work. “The decision how to deal with all this came to us rather quickly,” says Dmitry Likin, partner of the WOWHAUS architectural bureau. - Since a full-fledged historical and restoration survey of the interior was not carried out, any serious interference could lead to losses. It was decided to act in the logic of art intervention: to impose a new layer on the old interior. He will turn his attention to himself, creating a different atmosphere, but can be easily given or changed."
In other words, the choice was immediately made in favor of lightweight temporary structures - drywall and MDF, which, if necessary, can be dismantled literally in one day. It is they who create a modern "layer" in the historical interior, interpreting the neo-Gothic theme originally incorporated into the decoration of the restaurant through ornament and light-color effects. “The new image of the restaurant is based on the contrast of historical interior details made of wood and new materials and technologies, with the help of which the decoration is in tune with the present day,” adds Oleg Shapiro.
Thus, the walls of the foyer, which is the first to welcome the guests of the restaurant, were repainted by the architects in a gray-blue color, placing on this background many circles with a reflective effect. Having appeared here, the circle becomes a theme that then passes through all the premises of the restaurant - this is generally one of the most beloved motives of WOWHAUS, and it must be admitted that in the interior it sounds more intimate and confidential than in the design of public spaces. The staircase leading from the lobby to the restaurant itself has also been completely transformed. To visually lighten this very massive structure, the architects are installing white rectangular frames with lighting on each step. Following the displacement of the steps, these structures form a spectacular perspective portal: leading to the main premises of the restaurant, it unequivocally warns guests not only about a radical change in the image of this establishment, but also about the very nature of the transformation that has taken place.
The corridors of the renovated restaurant are also extremely expressive in this sense. Ventilation and air conditioning boxes are placed under their ceilings, and below there is a layer of lamps in the form of wide cylinders. They not only mask the pipes, but also visually significantly lower the height of the ceiling, giving additional intrigue to the transitions from one restaurant hall to another.
Fireplace rooms "Central House of Writers", although they are located on different floors, are designed in the image and likeness of each other. Repeatedly repeating similar elements are used in their design: all the same circles and damask floral ornament. Moreover, in the lower hall, the latter - another "classic of the genre" for the neo-Gothic style - serves as a background on which perforations in the form of circles are superimposed. Interestingly, architects also illuminate their multi-layer plastic panels with blue light, drawing all the attention of visitors to them and thereby forcing them to ignore the original heavy decoration of the premises. In the upper room, the same elements become flat, repeating themselves in the wallpaper pattern. Wall lights continue to evolve the circle theme as the unifying theme of the restaurant's décor, while the main lighting is provided by a pendant light made of many cylinders.
Perhaps most vividly, the concept of a modern layer, freely superimposed on top of the historical one, unfolds in the space of the Oak Hall. Here, again, the task was to distract visitors from its overly pretentious interior, and the architects decorate the oak panels with light screens with a luminous pattern. Moreover, these screens were launched around the perimeter of the hall at the level of the faces of people sitting at the tables, which further emphasizes the independence and conventionality of the new "layer". Double-layer perforated false walls made of MDF are decorated with a pattern, in an exaggerated form, repeating the patterns of the main pride of this hall - a huge stained-glass window. The outer layer is cut with circles, and the inner one with rhombuses, and they are illuminated with warm yellow light, creating a kind of play of geometric shapes, echoing the play of light from stained glass windows.
In addition, the hall has white dividing screens - illuminated partitions, also made of MDF and perforated with a pattern that freely interprets the neo-Gothic language. In order to visually somewhat reduce the double-height space of the hall and create a more comfortable atmosphere, the architects used lamps in the form of bulbs suspended on a metal frame to illuminate the tables. In the central area, they are ceiling-mounted, while in the sofas area they are fixed on high backs. As already mentioned, the main pride of the TsDL was preserved - a huge crystal chandelier: on the wall of the second tier, the architects installed a huge panel on the theme of food, with its scale supporting the dimensions of the lamp.
The concept of renovating the interiors of the famous restaurant, invented by WOWHAUS, did not find understanding among everyone: someone, frankly, is jarred by the combination of "solid" wood and plastic, which does not even try to pretend to be a noble material. Probably, if you take the transformation that has taken place seriously, such claims are really pertinent, but the key to understanding this interior is precisely that its renovation was not done "for centuries." “The pattern is based on 'golden shields on an azure field' - an almost childish interpretation of knightly heraldry,” explains Dmitry Likin. "Applied to decorative panels, it flirts with the pseudo-Gothic historical interior, destroying its pathos and thereby fulfilling its main task of creating a light and witty space."
