laV Restaurant & Wine Bar has opened in Austin, Texas.
Designers Bobby McAlpine and Susan Ferrier of Atlanta-based McAlpine Booth & Ferrier Interiors drew inspiration from the French region of Provence, and architecture was completed by Montgomery-based McAlpine Tankersley Architecture.
Built from the ground up, the brick exterior features large custom steel windows and doors to evoke a 1920s warehouse. Behind the simple façade is an antique fountain flanked by pergola seating and stone tables that look out onto a large Provencal–inspired garden.
“laV, like its signature lavender field painting, is a pastoral backdrop to enjoy time with food and friends. We designed the restaurant with the experience of the diner in mind,” says David Baker, McAlpine Tankersley partner and project architect. “From functionality of the space-the restaurant has eight corners which are the perfect spots for nestling into-to the aesthetic, we wanted people to feel comfortable and at home.”
Four individual areas make up the dining space: the tasting room, bar and lounge, dining room, and wine cellar. Moving forward, the team will continue to build out of the outdoor garden, or jardins de laV, which will provide some herbs for the kitchen and be used for private events and eventually live performances and spring- and summer-time movie screenings.
Of the design, Ferrier says: “I was ever mindful of putting materials and objects in the restaurant to absorb sound so the dining experience can be very intimate. The gestures of the drapery, the fabric banquets-anytime we could use something to absorb rather than reflect we took the opportunity there. I like the idea that laV feels a little more introverted rather than extroverted so intimacy can actually happen.”
