Alcove is a 270-seat waterfront restaurant on Lovejoy Wharf, a new development near Boston’s North Station. The restaurant overlooks Boston Harbor through a 70 foot long window wall, featuring views of the dramatic cable-stayed Zakim Bridge, the hub of Boston’s…
From day one the fantastic Seaport location, its fishing history, and the culinary focus of Hook + Line brought us great design inspiration. So we set out to build a material palette that balanced the grit of the fishing industry with the restrained beauty of the water. These materials are deployed along the long back wall of the restaurant that opposes and responds to the view to the water.
Tiles and other interior finishes of earthy blue and green are paired with stacked reclaimed wood and concrete counters, all punctuated by an open kitchen lined with steel shelves and firewood to feed the wood-fired stove.
If the kitchen is the heart of the dining room, the bar shelving with its backlit metal mesh reminiscent of fishing nets is the beacon grounding the bar area. This same looped mesh reappears as a ceiling treatment and picks up the glow of the kitchen. If one thinks of the bar as the moody depths of the ocean on one end of the space, the Hook + Line market on the other side is the opposite - bright, airy, sunlit and awash in activity. Like arriving at the pier for the day’s freshest catch.
The palette isn’t all subdued tones, however. Early in the design processes we found inspiration in a photo of fish scales that presented an iridescent rainbow that started with the expected blues, but ended in saffron yellow and salmon pink. So there are intentional fun moments of these hues in furniture and wallcoverings!
Location
Boston, MA
Services
Completion
2023
Architectural Team
Sandra A. Jahnes, AIA, LEED AP
William T. Ruhl, FAIA
Max Gideonse, AIA
General Contractor
Cafco Construction
Food Service
Boston Showcase
MEP Engineer
BLW Engineers
Interior Design
Diane Cramphin
Graphic Design
Graffito
Photography
© Drew Katz
