Ozon

Ozon is a startup quick-service restaurant chain seeking to sell hip and healthy food to kids. The company's mall-based prototype in Staten Island, N.Y., designed by Andrew M. Fethes Architectural Associates (Oradell, N.J.) and Studio D (New York), is a compact eatery featuring an acoustic ceiling, drywall soffits, brightly painted walls and a main counter with an orange top, a brushed-aluminum laminate front and toe-kick lighting that makes it appear to be floating.

“We wanted the space to be a 3-D representation of Ozon's slogan, 'Better Food, Cooler Space,' ” says Patrick Benasillo, Studio D's president.

To help achieve that goal, the 650-square-foot space incorporates magnetic surfacing in its menuboard, hanging banners and countertop displays. A slightly curved, 3-foot-high-by-14-foot-wide steel plate backs the Ozon menuboard, which is mounted above the counter on the restaurant's backwall. Interchangeable menu panels, digitally printed in magnetized ink on vinyl, attach to the metal plate.

The restaurant's banner system consists of vinyl signage hung on the walls and held in place at the top between powerful magnets and a strip of metal railing. And the countertop displays feature promotional pieces that are printed in magnetic ink, attached to an upright metal plate and placed under a lift-up, see-through cover for protection.

“We use the magnetic in-store communications systems to tell customers about the featured menu items for a given day,” says Benasillo. “Even though the systems are very flexible and changeable, they have the appearance of being permanent.”

Paul Johnson Photography, Stamford, Conn.Client: Ozon, Staten Island, N.Y.

Design: Studio D, New York – Patrick Benasillo, president; Jeffrey Cook, design director; Maureen Termecz, project manager; Gloria Tang, Denise Labus, Lilian Yip, designers

Architect-of-Record: Andrew M. Fethes Architectural Associates, New York – Andrew Fethes, principal

Suppliers: Visual Graphic Systems Inc., New York (magnetic signage, fixturing); DMX, Los Angeles (audio/video); Armstrong World Industries Inc., Lancaster, Pa. (ceilings); Dal-Tile, Dallas (ceramic tile flooring); L.M. Scofield, Douglasville, Ga. (concrete flooring); Bruck Lighting Systems, Costa Mesa, Calif. (track lighting); Eureka Lighting, Montreal (downlighting); Primus Lighting, Elmonte, Calif. (toe-kick lighting)