When the owners of an exciting, new restaurant and bar searched for their establishment’s name, they looked no further than their sizable collection of original editions of the 19th-century political magazine, Puck. 

Because the majority of space at the location is in the basement, designers faced a big challenge. And the location’s entrance in the rear of the existing bank building added to the challenge. Hillier’s architects created an entry garden and new terrace entry element to give the restaurant a presence. The terrace is open to above with retractable sunscreens, and the garden houses carefully groomed topiary for an arbor condition. 

The 5,000-square-foot renovation and addition prominently displays the owners’ magazine collection along the walls of the bar space. Architects specifically designed these walls to showcase and exhibit the pieces. Along the same theme, voids in the steel walls of the entry terrace create a graphic abstraction of William Blake’s 1785 painting, “Oberon, Titania and Puck with Fairies Dancing.”  This allusion to Shakespeare’s mischievous character from A Midsummer Night’s Dream hints to restaurant patrons of an other-worldly atmosphere once they step inside.