The ascetic lifestyles and diets of Korean Buddhist monks influenced the interiors that Limtaehee Design Studio has created for DooSooGoBang restaurant in the city of Suwon, South Korea.
DooSooGoBang, which is shortlisted in the restaurant interior category of this year's Dezeen Awards, is located east of Suwon in the district of Yeongtong-gu and serves Korean temple food.
The cuisine originated 1,700 years ago in Korea's early Buddhist temples and sees organic, seasonal meals prepared without the use of onions, garlic, chives, leeks and spring onions.
The main dining hall of DooSooGoBang restaurant
Monks and nuns typically avoid these five ingredients as they're said to disrupt harmonious spiritual practice, instead relying on elements such as mushroom powders and fermented soybean pastes for flavour. These practices came to be a key point of reference for Limtaehee Design Studio, which wanted the interiors of the restaurant to evoke the same "humbleness" as a Korean Buddhist temple and the dishes developed there.
A platform at the back of the room is used for traditional Korean-style dining, where guests sit on floor cushions
The restaurant has been divided into three areas ? the first is a spacious hall-style room which will act as the main dining room, finished with black-tile flooring and walls washed with pale grey plaster.
Cabinets around the room openly display ceramic ornaments.

Towards the rear of the room is a platform where diners can eat seated on fl...