Noma is closing: when BIG redesigned the “best restaurant in the world”

After two decades Noma, rated the best restaurant in the world, is closing its doors. Its chef René Redzepi, hailed as one of the most brilliants of our days, has recently told The New York Times that “the restaurant will close for regular service at the end of 2024”. According to Redzepi, fine dining at the highest level has become “unsustainable.” Back in 2018, Noma asked Bjarke Ingels's architectural firm BIG to design its new premises. Here's the original article covering the project, as it was published on Domus' digital platforms. The linear warehouse house known as Søminedepotet was used to store ammunition by the Royal Danish Navy, and is now protected because of its military heritage. This meant BIG was only permitted to extend the building where previous extensions to the structure had been demolished. The architects decided to focus their efforts on a plot at one end of the building, where they constructed seven gabled structures to house all of the restaurant’s functions.

Brick, timber and glass applied in an assortment of finishes give each of the blocks its own expression. Slender glass passages connect the spaces while visually maintaining their separate forms. The glazing also serves to give diners and chefs frequent glimpses of the changing weather - an important component in the Noma menu, which is designed according to the seasons. At the heart of the space is the kitchen. All of the blocks are arranged to give a direct view of the chefs more typically hidden away behind the scenes. Spaces for the diners are positioned to also give views of the setting, while areas for preparation and dishwashing are located within one end of the old warehouse.

“Central to the design was the idea of dissolving the restaurant’s individual functions and organising them into a collection of separate yet connected buildings,” said the architects. “Every part of the restaurant experience – the arrival, the lounge, the barbeque, the wine selection and the private company – are all clustered around the chefs.” Three glasshouses set on old concrete foundations positioned along the length of the warehouse building house an indoor garden, test kitchen and bakery.