Cúrate Restaurant
This project was an adaptive re-use renovation for a building located in downtown Asheville, converting it from an art gallery/office space into a tapas restaurant.
The current building is the center section of what was once a larger building that housed the first local bus terminal back in the 1920s, and a portion of the old bus canopy remains and is still visible through the main floor’s rear windows.
The change in occupancy from gallery to restaurant created several major code—related challenges including: the roof structure needed to be retrofitted to support kitchen and mechanical equipment; a sprinkler system had to be added to alleviate exit issues; and party walls that should have separated this building from its neighbors needed to be extended to the roof deck. To accomplish this, the existing ceilings were removed; and after seeing what was up there, the owners chose to paint the exposed structure and show off the beauty and craftsmanship of the building’s “bones”.
A long marble-topped bar separates the open kitchen area from the main dining area and a suspended light shelf with a lower glass and bottle shelf help to bring further definition to the space.
Cúrate Restaurant opened in the building in early March of 2011 – and the newly renovated space has been a lively addition to Downtown.
Photographs by Amy Alday.
