Huis Clos

Design

La Firme

Production

2013

Branding

Carteblanche

Photo

Ulysse Lemerise Bouchard

 

Not your typical submarine joint

Huis Clos--"behind closed doors”-- refers to a dramatic piece in which the action happens in a single room, named for Jean-Paul Sartre’s 1944 play about three people locked up together for an eternity of torment.

But rather than claustrophobia and antagonism, neighborhood resto-bar Huis Clos in Montreal’s Villeray sector inspires a sense of intimacy, adventure, mystery and connection.

The raw, mechanical, enclosed setting evokes a submarine. The play of light on the textured white ceiling mimics the crushing oppression of a wave crashing overhead. The sub-nautical theme is extended by reflective surfaces and the narrow, linear space is divided to create a number of “berths” where small groups can gather.

A focus on the galley

A focal point of Huis Clos is the wide cutaway bay that opens onto the kitchen. In contrast to the more intimate dining spaces, this aperture in an atypical polygonal wall at the far end of the space renders the kitchen open, luminous and lively.

View of the window of the dining room of the restaurant Huis Clos. Yellow rectangular sign backlit. Customers discussing under a suspended custom-made luminaire with a very mechanical appearance
The kitchen and the dining room, 2 separate volumes. The bench is surrounded by a turquoise geometric trellis. The kitchen block, open in the center, suggests warmer lighting
View of the bar with industrial lights suspended above the different areas. Menu made of a yellow bulletin board with vintage letters. Custom lighting made of an old marine buoy
Restaurant table made of white oak with silkscreen printing a vintage photograph of the workers of the Villeray district in Montreal. Integrated Branding 360
Custom fixtures made of highly industrial steel tubes hanging to create groups of lamps above the different areas of the restaurant. The wall of the kitchen in textured wood painted white
View of the bar with industrial lights suspended above the different areas. Menu made of a yellow bulletin board with vintage letters. Dining room chairs transformed into stools
Custom fixtures made of highly industrial steel tubes hanging to create groups of lamps above the different areas of the restaurant. The wall of the kitchen in textured wood painted white
Bathroom with glossy black cabs. Inside a blue toilet and a hanging fixture made from an old marine buoy. Adjacent a hallway finished with black mosaic
Bathroom with glossy black cabs. Inside a blue toilet and a hanging fixture made from an old marine buoy. Adjacent ahallwayfinishedwith black mosaic