Realm Designs Earns Design Excellence Award for New Jersey Restaurant

Realm Designs, Inc. has earned the Bronze Award for Design Excellence in the hospitality category of the 2010 biannual Design for Excellence Awards competition of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) for its work on Solar do Minho. The firm designed the restaurant as a tribute to the heritage of the owners’ native Portugal. As such, Sandra Lambert, Realm Designs owner and principal interior designer, introduced old world elements such as natural stone, distressed wood beams, and period-style lighting.
 
“I wanted the space to seem visually grand yet have a sense of human scale so I designed the truss beam work of the restaurant to bring the vast ceiling height to a pleasing scale,” Lambert says. “Often in restaurants people request the quiet and cozy booth tables. I felt it was imperative to add the low-diving wall where tables are place to each side. Patrons now have a private setting for those romantic dinners.”