Interiors practice Sundholm Studio has refreshed the 30-year-old Nanas restaurant in Durham, North Carolina, with strong colours, bespoke timber joinery and metalwork.
Previously named Nana's, the restaurant was renamed Nanas, in tribute to "not one nana, but rather the entire genre," Sundholm Studio creative director Shaun Sundholm told Dezeen.
The space ? intended to capture the hospitable "spirit of grandmothers" ? comprises a bar, salon, dining room and an outdoor patio.
Navy fluted walls form the backdrop to the salon
Sundholm's aim was to update the space with "modern details that bring the outside in".
The existing curved walls in the entryway were retained and reworked with wooden slats, which light passes through to evoke "a walk through the woods". Wooden window blinds and sheer drapes in the dining room help with acoustic absorption and adjusting the natural light levels.
The seating is a mixture of banquette booths and chairs
The dimly lit entrance was contrasted with the bar, dining area and salon, where jewel-toned colours like emerald green, sapphire blue, and rich amber orange have been used.
"I aimed to pay homage to aspects of the previous design where possible, accentuating some of the interesting bits of the existing physical space, such as the curved wall at the entrance and the hints of orange throughout ? recalling the bright, blaze orange walls of the past," Sundholm explained.

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