Courtesy Eric Piasecki
Brad Cloepfil is accustomed to designing really big buildings. From the beguiling curves of the recently opened National Music Centre of Canada to the soon-to-be-completed U.S. Embassy in Mozambique, the projects of his firm Allied Works are known for their grandness. But for him, projects of that scale are easy—it was a 2,900 square foot revamp of Manhattan’s revered Eleven Madison Park restaurant that prompted “the most intense stress” of his life.
For starters, the success of such a project lies in the tiniest of details. “Our work in buildings is about structure…we don’t rely on a lot of fancy finishes,” Cloepfil explains. “But with a restaurant, everything’s equal and has the same impact—every chair, plate, table base, everything.”