WALK: West Asheville Lounge & Kitchen
W.A.L.K. (West Asheville Lounge and Kitchen) is a new restaurant in a former night club location on Haywood Road. The owners wanted to create a comfortable neighborhood bar and local hangout with pool tables, and a juke box.
The building was originally an auto repair garage built in the 1920s, and the elegant simplicity of the brick structure and vaulted wood roof creates a very open, inviting space. Over the years, changes had been made - plaster added, garage doors bricked-in, and bathrooms built in the front of the space (closing it off visually from the street).
Working with the owners and general contractor (The Hands of Sean Perry) to re-invent this building as W.A.L.K., we added a kitchen and moved the restrooms; re-oriented mechanical units and placed them on a new wooden platform to expose the original front transom windows; added glass-paneled garage doors and re-opened brick infill areas. The plaster wall finish was removed to expose the original brick – and as an added bonus, we found painted numbers on the walls that had defined the old car bays.
The new glassed garage doors let in light, and the industrial-looking, locally-crafted lighting at the bar and dining area highlights the original wooden trusses. The concrete bar top and steel back bar accent the exposed red brick, and a beautiful mural wall by Subject Matter Studio completes the space. These new features weren’t intended to “re-create” the former auto garage –they just look right - and the end result is an inviting restaurant space that has a modern feel but highlights the best of this building’s past.
