Yountville, CA (PRWEB) April 07, 2015

The renderings are inand the design team chosenfor a historic renovation of The French Laundry, the first major overhaul of the landmark restaurant in 20 years. International design firm, Snhetta, is the lead design and landscape architect, working in collaboration with California-based firms Envelope A+D as executive architect and Tim Harrison of Harrison, Koellner, LLC as kitchen designer. The renovation will result in a new and expanded kitchen and courtyard, an auxiliary building to house a wine cellar and support offices, and a new arrival experience to enhance the approach to the iconic blue door.

While the historic restaurant will remain unaltered, all of the former kitchen structure and auxiliary buildings have been demolished to make way for the modernization. Wright Construction leads the construction.

The French Laundry is being redesigned to be a backdrop worthy of the restaurant's history, Thomas Keller said. With the Louvre Pyramid as my inspiration, we wanted to find a way to juxtapose the historic and the modern while maintaining the high quality cuisine and service our guests have come to expect from The French Laundry. The new design will be an innovative and functioning space that will allow us to continue to evolve as a restaurant and develop new standards.

Every element of the design strikes a thoughtful balance between form and function, beginning with the guests first step onto The French Laundry property. In preparation for the project, Snhettas Craig Dykers spent many hours in Chef Kellers kitchen, observing the rhythm and the culture of the restaurant. Snhettas design aims to create a meaningful environment for those who work there, recognizing Chef Kellers emphasis on efficiency and precision, along with his vision that the kitchen is the keystone of a world-class restaurant experience.

An experience at any of Chef Kellers restaurants transcends expectation. The kitchen is the starting point for an architecture of connection, energy and authenticity. As Chef Keller makes us aware, the kitchen is where all the senses are first ignited, said Craig Dykers, Founding Partner of Snhetta, and longtime friend of Chef Keller. The French Laundry kitchen is both primal and innovative, setting the stage for culinary magic.

The renovated kitchen will support the graceful choreography for which the restaurants culinary and service teams are known. The new custom vaulted ceilings, fabricated by local manufacturer Kreysler & Associates, will evoke a white linen table cloth being gently unfurled across a table, while also hiding the ceilings functional elements. The sweeping vaults create large skylights that will let in ample natural light and sound-dampening ceiling panels will reduce ambient noise. The new kitchen will also be equipped with customized ventilated ceiling systems by Halton Americas that use remote sensors to control air flow.

The renovation of The French Laundry kitchen is not simply a face-lift. It is a commitment by Chef Keller and his team to continually aim themselves toward the moving target of perfection, said Douglas Burnham, Principal/Founder, Envelope A+D.

In addition to expanding the kitchens size by 25 percent, the renovation will make for more efficient use of space, creating one contiguous room for the entire culinary team with a visual connection from station to station. With walls, flooring and work stations all fashioned out of anti-microbial Dekton Quartz by Cosentino of North America, the new kitchen will feature a white-on-white palettea nod to the sense of promise and potential of a fresh start. The kitchen equipment will feature two unique Moltini suites by Electrolux and commercial ranges by Hestan Commercial. The ground-up construction of a new Kitchen Annex will house The French Laundrys support functions including the prep kitchen, butchery, produce breakdown, and management offices. It is also home to The French Laundrys regarded wine collection, with the storage capacity to hold up to 14,000 bottles.

Energy conservation and efficiencies are also critical components of the renovation. Renewable energy solar panels by NRG will be installed and the kitchen will feature a power generation system utilizing new fuel cell technology by Bloom Energy. An expansion of the existing unique geothermal loop is planned as well to further improve overall sustainability.

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The French Laundrys Plans Revealed

Its time for the 1957 Royal Poinciana Plaza to have a wow moment again, Samantha David told residents and others Tuesday at the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach.

For six months, Smith and Moore Architects and Nievera Williams Landscape Architecture have worked with David, of Up Markets, to make that moment possible. Up Markets took a controlling leasehold interest in the John Volk-designed commercial plaza last August through a $22.5 million deal.

We very deliberately chose residential landscape and building architects with the hope that, (when) you drive up to this building, it feels like you are approaching the most beautiful home, David said. When you go on to the gardens, its someones garden and its cozy and its intimate and special.

The team showed its plan to revitalize the Regency-style plaza to the public for the first time Tuesday.

The keys, they said, are a major boost in landscaping to increase shade and visual appeal, a change in traffic flow and the restoring architectural elements lost over the years in piecemeal changes.

Windows and storefronts need to be restored to Volks original design and awnings should be the same style and color, according to Daniel Kahan, an architect with Smith and Moore.

What we are trying to do is strip away all of the unfortunate things that have happened to a great building since it was constructed. In a vacuum, each decision that has been made may have not been so terrible, but they werent made holistically and over the years they have amassed to something that really does a disservice to a great building, Kahan said.

Landscape architect Keith Williams said the plan would improve traffic flow by eliminating the entrance/exit on Cocoanut Row, adding a curb cut for an entrance/exit at the northeast corner of the property and a cut for two exit lanes on the southeast corner.

To reduce the asphalt on the massive property, those spots and the existing north-side entrance/exit would be paved with cast stone.

Sidewalks would shrink from 12.6 feet to 5 feet in width to provide room for palm trees and shrubs, and to increase the distance between parallel parking spaces next to the buildings and the first row of angled spaces, according to Williams.

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Team reveals plan for intimate redo of Royal Poinciana Plaza

"Ludic" a word denoting aimless playfulness is an important one for Solange Serquis. "I like to be as playful as possible in the outdoors," said the landscape architect who was trained in Argentina and Santa Fe. The concept came up in a discussion about one of her focus points when planning residential landscape projects. In New Mexico the outdoor areas are amazing. In Buenos Aires its very hot and humid in the summer and people don't want to be outside. But here its beautiful and I like doing water features with recirculated water. In my own garden I did a river feature with black stones. My kids love to play in it and adults like to put their feet in.

Water, shade, and confluence point makes everything happen and you can sit there and enjoy. Then plants. I especially love red feathergrass. I like to use native plants so you will get butterflies and birds. If you love birds, do native plants.

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