{"id":183153,"date":"2026-04-02T04:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/183153\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T04:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:41:11","slug":"grt-architects-design-for-a-manhattan-garage-turned-restaurant-impresses-with-extravagant-finishes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/183153\/","title":{"rendered":"GRT Architects\u2019 Design for a Manhattan Garage-Turned-Restaurant Impresses with Extravagant Finishes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The intersection of 34th Street and Ninth Avenue in Manhattan is far from tranquil. Midtown traffic barrels and bellows, office workers stream between Penn Station and Hudson Yards, and, somewhere, construction equipment inevitably roars. But at Limusina, a Mexican restaurant designed by Brooklyn-based GRT Architects inside a formerly derelict loading dock and garage, a riot of sumptuous detailing and a well-choreographed layout renders that hubbub worlds away, as suggested by its name, which means limousine in Spanish.<\/p>\n

Hospitality group Quality Branded approached GRT in 2024\u2014the two had collaborated on the design of several eateries, including Bad Roman, an equally brazen Italian restaurant in New York City that opened its doors in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work that we have completed with Quality Branded is maximal and kind of intense,\u201d says Rustam Mehta, GRT founding partner. \u201cThey push us to experiment, and this project afforded that opportunity in spades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Limusina\u2019s 8,200-square-foot space is located within a brick-clad warehouse built in 1962. A redevelopment in 2019 adapted the eight-story structure as the podium of an office tower. Despite the site\u2019s transformation, this cavernous ground-level expanse\u2014heavily stained in oil and soot\u2014remained largely untouched and vacant for years.<\/p>\n

\"Limusina\"
\n
\n1<\/p>\n

Red and purple saturate the interior (1 & 2). Photos \u00a9 Brian W. Ferry<\/p>\n

\"Limusina\"
\n
\n2<\/p>\n

A major obstacle to the space\u2019s present-day repositioning was its significantly sloped floor: the central area had a nearly 2-foot difference in elevation from end to end, and two ancillary spaces, one to the north and another to the east, were approximately 3 feet higher and 2 feet lower, respectively. For the design team, that sectional complexity provided an opportunity to create varied zones throughout the restaurant. The sloped floor was leveled with concrete to serve as the main dining area, while the ancillary spaces can be used for both private events and regular turnover. \u201cThis project was very much a three-dimensional puzzle to work out,\u201d notes Mehta.<\/p>\n

The entrance is positioned on the site\u2019s southeast corner and leads to a foyer surfaced with glazed aubergine-colored tiles. To this antechamber\u2019s immediate left is the primary dining area, which is accessed through a set of translucent, bright-red glass partitions. A similar treatment is applied to the storefront windows, in the form of diaphanous curtains that filter daylight and obscure outdoor commotion.<\/p>\n

The first few steps into the restaurant\u2019s main hall are a revelry of conspicuous materials, often used inventively. The room is anchored by an expansive bar, topped with black shell stone slabs that curve and step to meet Limusina\u2019s changes in grade. It is backed by a faceted wall of light boxes and dark marble. Throughout, concrete breeze blocks integrated with lighting form banquettes and partitions. Black-and-white marble slabs arranged in a trapezoid-and-square pattern line the floor. A service bar, placed at the western edge of the restaurant, consists of glossy plywood panels painted by hand to exaggerate the wood\u2019s grain. The existing concrete columns were kept exposed but now feature hand-painted floral motifs. All these details are sensually illuminated by spherical pendant lamps and two 8-foot-wide chandeliers of concentrically arranged rings of fluted-glass panels, fabric and copper-chain metal mesh, and tubular bulbs.<\/p>\n

\"Limusina\"<\/p>\n

The service bar is built of plywood panels. Photo \u00a9 Christian Harder<\/p>\n

One of the ancillary dining spaces, a former loading dock perched a few feet higher than the main dining area, doubles as a private event space. It is ensconced in an operable screen of light-purple blown glass that, when open, offers a prime vantage point for people-watching. Here the walls are covered in patterned dyed leather; overhead, lamps placed within a colored acrylic grid bathe the room in a warm glow.<\/p>\n

\"Limusina\"
\n
\n3<\/p>\n

Blown-glass partitions enclose the uppermost dining space (3 & 4). Photos \u00a9 Brian W. Ferry<\/p>\n

\"Limusina\"
\n
\n4<\/p>\n

Another auxiliary area, positioned at the restaurant\u2019s lowest point, is dubbed \u201cthe pool.\u201d Fittingly, its floor is a deep turquoise, an effect created by acid washing the concrete floor. \u201cIt\u2019s a chemical reaction where you have no idea what will happen once the concrete absorbs the substance, and then another reaction occurs once you seal it,\u201d explains Mehta. A section of the \u201cpool\u201d area can be made private by using a set of sliding glass doors; its walls are surfaced with red travertine blocks treated with a purple fill.<\/p>\n

\"Limusina\"<\/p>\n

Red travertine blocks with a purple fill surface one room\u2019s walls. Photo \u00a9 Christian Harder<\/p>\n

\"Limusina\"<\/p>\n

Phenolic laminate is used for bathroom vanities. Photo \u00a9 Brian W. Ferry<\/p>\n

The same level of detail found in the dining spaces is applied elsewhere in the restaurant. In the restrooms, cast basalt tiles are used for flooring and wainscoting, and a striking phenolic laminate, which resembles something of a metamorphic rock with cabbage-like veining, covers the floating vanities. A one-table private dining space with a speakeasy ambience, accessed through the main bar\u2019s backdrop, is lined in the same material.<\/p>\n

\"Limusina\"
\n
\n5<\/p>\n

The primary bar\u2019s faceted backdrop (5) shrouds a private dining room (6). Photos \u00a9 Brian W. Ferry<\/p>\n

\"Limusina\"
\n
\n6<\/p>\n

Limusina is not for those seeking an understated dining experience. GRT Architects\u2019 many gestures are delightfully extravagant and demonstrate a deep understanding of how to blend opulent materials to create a space worth lingering in. \u201cMaximalism, when done wrong, is going to look like a strip club,\u201d states Mehta. \u201cIt must have subtlety and an antigravity feeling. That leads to a retro-futuristic whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Limusina\"<\/p>\n

Image courtesy GRT Architects \n<\/p>\n

Credits<\/p>\n

Interior Designer:
\n
GRT Architects \u2014 Rustam Mehta, Tal Schori, founding partners<\/p>\n

Executive Architect:
\n
NuZine<\/p>\n

Architect of Record:
\n
ASDA Design & Architecture<\/p>\n

Engineers:
\n
B2 Engineering (MEP); A Degree of Freedom (structural)<\/p>\n

Consultant:
\n
Focus Lighting<\/p>\n

General Contractor:
\n
Nicon Build<\/p>\n

Client:
\n
Quality Branded<\/p>\n

Size:
\n
8,200 square feet<\/p>\n

Cost:
\n
Withheld<\/p>\n

Completion:
\n
September 2025<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sources<\/p>\n

Custom Upholstery:
\n
Walls Studio<\/p>\n

Demountable Partitions:
\n
Modernfold<\/p>\n

Cabinetwork and Custom Woodwork:
\n
Quality Wood Design<\/p>\n

Paneling:
\n
Hollander Glass (mirrors); Forms + Surfaces (stainless steel)<\/p>\n

Plastic Laminate:
\n
Abet Laminati<\/p>\n

Floor and Wall Tile:
\n
ABC Stone (marble); CBP Engineering (basalt)<\/p>\n

Hand-Blown Glass:
\n
Monarch Glass Studio<\/p>\n

Lighting:
\n
Acclaim Lighting, Tivoli (linear); Solais, MP Lighting (accents); Folio (light boxes)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The intersection of 34th Street and Ninth Avenue in Manhattan is far from tranquil. Midtown traffic barrels and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63,821],"class_list":{"0":"post-183153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-manhattan","9":"tag-manhattan-headlines","10":"tag-manhattan-news","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-restaurants"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}