Sip Pho Restaurant in Austin, Texas, American Architecture, USA Commercial Interior Images
Sip Pho Restaurant in Austin
July 10, 2020
Sip Pho Restaurant
Design: MAGIC architecture
Location: Austin, Texas, USA

Guided by the owner’s interest in simple and clean spaces, the architecture of the Sip Pho Restaurant building was an exploration of how to make ordinary building parts look extraordinary. Located north of the University of Texas, the building’s quiet composition is a reaction to the busy and graphic mess of the surrounding streetscape.

The building’s forms are based on the simple shapes of pioneer Texas structures, which were often basic gables roofs with overhangs for porches. The pioneer language here is translated into a composition of two forms: a gable + a box.
Each form has a different function as a direct representation of use, the gable (dining room) and the box (kitchen). The dining room is a column free 20 foot x60 foot space with exposed Douglas Fir wood framed studs and rafters. The box (kitchen) is left understated to conceal the kitchen HVAC and related building systems.

Simple available materials were used throughout. Pre-finished corrugated white siding is the primary exterior material, cladding walls and roof, broken with moments of site-built windows. Taking the language to the interior, a palette of white drywall, Douglas Fir framing and concrete floor carries throughout. To avoid structural beams and expensive window systems c...