Josh Greenspan creates New York cocktail lounge almost entirely with USM modules
Restaurateur Josh Greenspan and furniture company USM have created VV's Cocktail Room in Manhattan, a small space wrapped almost entirely in Steel Blue USM Haller modular shelving and informed by Greenspan's visits to Japan and Hong Kong.
Named after Greenspan's daughter Vivienne, VV's Cocktail Room (VV's) is located in Chelsea and contains just 18 seats to mimic the intimacy of an omakase cocktail experience, where bartenders lead a multi-course tasting or cocktail menu.
The project stems from Greenspan's ongoing conversations with USM, which frequently collaborates with designers to outfit spaces and create installations from the flexible panelling system.
"I started imagining something a little wild – a space built entirely from the USM system, pushing its modularity in unexpected ways," Greenspan told Dezeen. "I'm thrilled that the USM team embraced the idea and came along for the ride."
Visitors to the bar pass a glass block wall partition to enter the space. Inside, navy blue USM panels form the walls that surround the space and wrap behind the bar, where they jut out into shelving.
A dark walnut wood was used for the bar top and tables, which is offset by bar seats upholstered in a burgundy fabric and banquette seating built by Greenspan's father, Michael Greenspan, covered in a similar hue.
Other details include a wavy pendant light by New York lighting studio Studio Kawabi that spans the length of the bar and a painting by Japanese artist Keita Morimoto affixed to the back wall.
The space was informed by the "visual language" of Tokyo and Hong Kong, according to the team, and aims for the futuristic aesthetic between the 1960s and 1990s of the two metropolises.
Greenspan worked with USM's director of architectural development, Ian Mutschelkanus, to create an interior where the USM Haller System serves as "the architectural framework of the space" rather than simply being inserted.
"Rather than furnishing the interiors, USM defines them," said the team. "Each composition of the modular system demonstrates its remarkable versatility beyond furniture and into the realm of spatial design."
Greenspan partnered with James Beard Award-winning bartender Neal Bodenheimer and longtime friend Vincent Favela for the omakase cocktail program, while his mother, five-time James Beard Award winner Dorie Greenspan, created a bar snack menu.
Past spaces that used USM panels for walls include retail space for Coperni in Paris.
Other recently completed bars in New York include Odd Ball by House Under Magic and a second Brooklyn location for concept shop and wine bar Million Goods designed by Gjergji Shkurti.
The photography is by Marco Galloway
The post Josh Greenspan creates New York cocktail lounge almost entirely with USM modules appeared first on Dezeen.
