Introduction
"It is a restaurant to see and be seen in. Its clear glass facade, unencumbered by metal mullions, dissolves the barrier between inside and out, and opens up the three floors to light and air...Once inside an arrangement of solids and voids link the floors into a three dimensional sculpture."
Susan Dawson
Architects' Journal April 1991 on Now & Zen
The site started as an unpromising concrete shell with an almost unusable basement. Reinforced concrete walls and floors were removed and a whole new steel structure inserted to create the completely new curving mezzanine and to open up and connect the basement with the two floors above, creating one large space.
A spectacular glass 'dragon' waterfall unites the whole as it drops through all three floors from the roof to the basement. The chairs were designed especially for the restaurant by Rick Mather.
Use of advanced and innovative techniques of glazing in the façade and the pavement made it possible to bring light and the theatre of the street into the restaurant. The structural glass front includes the first frameless glass revolving door ever built.
Interiors USA
A Zen dragon
Justin Henderson - April 92
Baumeister
Zen - oder die Kunst mit Strabchen zu essen
SAS - Jan 92
Diseno Interior (Spain)
Restaurante Now & Zen - una revision de los primeros modernos
Berta Blasco - Sept 91
AJ Focus
Zen and the art of glazing
Susan Dawson - April 91
Interior Design
Through the looking glass
Gaynor Williams - April 91
The Independent
Zen and the art of cool
Emily Green - 23 Feb 91