Moore Wilson's Sushi House - Wellington (2014)

The Sushi House at Moore Wilson's on Tory street is styled after worker's cottages that once proliferated around the area. The cottage facade wraps around two sides of the central lift shaft and functions as a small food shop, beautifying and activating the space.

We studied old photographs of these little cottages, which informed our design process. The cottage was designed using various computer aided design techniques, using the 3D model to manufacture CNC milled moulds to cast fiberglass components supported by a metal framework. Although the cottage looks like wood, it is mainly fibreglass. Human Dynamo designed, then pre-fabricated and painted the cottage in our workshop. It was installed over three nights for minimal disruption and an element of surprise for customers.

The Resene colour range was used to design the colour way of the cottage; special consideration was taken with regards to the colour scheme as they reference Japanese and Colonial heritage. Designed by our resident art director Sue Dorrington, the colour scheme won a Resene Total Colour Award.

"My starting point was looking at and photographing the environment the installation was in at Moore Wilsons. It was very Grey. The feel was industrial and prone to a chilly breeze. Colours apart from Grey were the Brown Bronze of a nearby art work, and aqua Moore Wilson's signage.

One of the aims of the cottage concept was to intrigue, add a bit of fun and entertain Moore Wilson’s customers. This was also a consideration in the design of the colour scheme. Feedback from our client has been, that the Sushi chefs are very busy and it feels as if the cottage has always been there. I like to think it has added a warm Heart to the store complex."

- Sue Dorrington