The Bigfish seafood bistro is located in the downtown of Budapest on the renowned Andrássy Avenue. It occupies the ground floor of a late 19th century building. As the client is a wholesale fishmonger the design aimed to create a restaurant evoking the atmosphere of a fish market at the coast or a warehouse in a port.
Accordingly, the interior employs modest elements and raw surfaces – creating a technical, slightly industrial look. The coarse surfaces of walls, the white tile covers framed by strong black metal borders, the grey resin floor with traf- fic paintings, the simplicity of the wooden and metal furniture all strengthen this mood. The electronic installations and the ventilation ducts are apparently mounted, structures and beams are visible. This milieu is complemented by a couple of reused accessories, like the lamps, pulleys and the fans on the ceiling. Old fish chests were recycled by transforming them into huge wine shelves in front of the end walls of the spaces; the newly made elements of the counter mimic the wooden warehouse crates too. This austere warehouse atmosphere is then counterpointed by the ultramarine coloured chairs of the restaurant.
Guests are informed by various communication surfaces. Blackboards suspended from the ceiling help the orientation, the menu boards above the counter follow the wooden crates’ industrial appearance. The pictograms of the boards and the counter are based on the universal package content signal system.
The bistro follows simplicity in its operation too, working on a semi-self service model. The guests select and pay their meals at the counter and choose an appropriate dining place from the several opportunities. One can sit on the stools next to the counter, choose between the regular or the high tables or take place in the portals on the wooden chest seatings. Groups can use the slightly separated private room in the back, opposite the entrance. In front of the restaurant a terrace conveys seaside atmosphere to the busy sidewalk with its simple white tables and light blue chairs.
