Surface Design Awards: Commercial Interior Winner

October 2016 marked the opening of Fucina, the latest project from acclaimed architecture and design practice AMA. The Italian restaurant, owned by Kurt Zdesar, focuses on traditional Italian dishes albeit with contemporary twists. Driven by the seasons, Fucina’s menu celebrates the finest organic Italian produce with classic dishes which includes freshly rolled pasta, stone baked pizza and large joints of meat, depending on the season, cooked over a wood-fired pit.

The brilliance of Fucina was recognised by judges Ab Rogers, Tina Norden, Bethan Wood, Jenny and Sacha Leong and awarded the Commercial Interior: Surface Design Award 2017.  

The judges stated that; ‘What they’ve managed to achieve is very clear. It’s simple but clear and technically hard to achieve.’  ‘Love the distortion of surfaces.’

Handmade coloured Italian glass and steel screen stretch from floor to ceiling, and the bespoke furniture takes its inspiration from trees. Fabricated from refined and machined branches, the tables and chairs seemingly grow from the floor. Fucina, ‘forge’ in Italian, is consistently referred to by AMA with its palette of materials which include brick, marble, timber and burnt steel.

The restaurant’s crowning glory is the uniquely curved and distorted ceiling. The unusual undulating ceiling pays reference to the inside of a traditional pizza oven and provides a focal point for the restaurant’s customers.

AMA is an award-winning London-based, full-service Architectural and Design practice which has been led by Andy Martin for more than a decade. AMA provides the creative strength behind some of the most dynamic global hospitality and retail environments in operation. AMA regularly collaborates with London’s most renowned entrepreneurs, restaurateurs and chefs and is responsible for the creation and evolution of some of London’s most successful restaurants.

Congratulations to Andy Martin on his well deserved award for a stunning commercial interior.