Step into the LYFE Kitchen restaurant that debuted in Palo Alto, Calif., Oct. 12, and the vibrant colors and clean surfaces grab your attention even before you’ve focused on the menu emphasizing low-calorie, low-sodium fare.
On closer inspection, it can be seen that the materials used to create the décor for the 80-seat fast-casual restaurant were as carefully thought out as the ingredients for the menu — which features entrées containing 600 or fewer calories and under 1,000 milligrams of sodium.
The restaurant employs quickly renewable or responsibly managed resources, such as bamboo; products incorporating high percentages of recycled materials; and reclaimed goods, such as planking from college bleachers.
Margee Drews of Margee Drews Design, the LYFE Kitchen interior designer, recently provided NRN with a list of such materials or sustainable construction practices used in the front-of-the-house. The development team included Keisker & Wiggle Architects and Coastline Design Inc., among others.
Here is a quick tour showing how LYFE Kitchen’s interior incorporates recycled and renewable resources
1. Kitchen’s oven hood is made with 80-percent recycled stainless steel and is 100-percent recyclable.
2. Bamboo table tops.
3. Recyclable aluminum chairs.
4. Foam used for upholstery is soy-based, not petroleum-based.
5. Upholstery material on barstools and sofa upholstery is PVC-free
6. Community table top is made with plantation teak that is Forestry Stewardship Council, or FSC, certified as coming from renewable forestry.
7. Pendants over community table use low-voltage Xenon lighting.
8. Concrete block wall left exposed, no additional, unnecessary decorative finish added.
9. Douglas-fir bleacher wood as ceiling cladding over the community table. The bleacher wood is reclaimed from salvages at colleges and high schools. FSC certified as recycled.
10. Large bamboo light fixtures are fluorescent.
Some more ways LYFE Kitchen stays sustainable…
• Flooring made of FSC-certified bamboo flooring.
• Picture frames made from recycled coffee cups.
• Woven faux wicker on sofas use a recycled woven plastic that is 90-percent composed of milk and juice containers. The aluminum sofa frames are made with 10-percent to 30-percent recycled aluminum and are 100-percent recyclable.
• Recyclable materials: Table bases use 100-percent recyclable stainless steel. Front kitchen’s white counter tops are made with 66 percent post-consumer-recycled glass. Tiles on the herb wall and front counter face are made from concrete of 35-percent recycled content.
• Main front counter designed around existing skylight to offer best use of daylight.
• No incandescent lighting.
• General down lighting and accent lighting is LED, which is 80 percent more efficient than a standard incandescent.
• Upholstery fabric on booths in the back room made with 100-percent recycled polyester and are 100-percent recyclable.
• Furnishings packaged in recycled cartons.
Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @AJ_NRN