ORA uses fallen LA street trees in Uchi West Hollywood restaurant

Vertical slats made from natural wood sourced from fallen street trees divide the spaces of this Japanese restaurant by local Los Angeles studio ORA.

Uchi West Hollywood is the first West Coast location of chef Tyson Cole’s Austin-based chain, operated by Hai Hospitality Group.

Interior view of the entrance area of the restaurant “Uchi West Hollywood” — Fallen street trees from all over LA form room dividers in the restaurant

Located on a prominent corner of Santa Monica Boulevard, the 483-square-meter restaurant has 160 seats and a wood-dominated interior.

“We worked closely with local artists, makers and artisans, repurposing simple natural materials to create a sense of surprise and connection with the unexpected natural beauty and spirit of our city,” said ORA Founding Director Oonagh Ryan.

Sculptural lamp above a bar counter — Pieces created specifically for this space include a sculptural light by Kazuki Takizawa above the bar counter.

One of the key collaborations for this project was with Angel City Lumber, which sourced wood from 25 Aleppo pines that had fallen in 14 different neighborhoods.

“With an average diameter of 30 inches and an average length of nine feet, nearly 26 tons of local LA trees were processed into lumber for Uchi,” the team said.

Restaurant interior design with natural wooden boards to separate the seating areas — The wooden boards with natural tree edges draw winding lines through the room and create more intimate seating areas

The 42 trunks of these trees were cut into natural wood boards of different lengths and suspended vertically from the ceiling of the restaurant to form room dividers.

The panels follow curved lines that delimit the seating areas and are followed at the top by vertical wooden bands that conceal the light niche designed by Dot Dash.

Sushi bar with travertine behind — Travertine is mounted behind the sushi bar

In between, plaster applied with a hand trowel to the ceiling helps to improve the acoustics in the room.

Custom-made concrete planters by landscaping company SBLA run beneath the dividing walls and extend to a terrace with additional dining area.

Light boxes behind objects displayed on shelves, above benches — Light boxes above the benches create silhouettes of the decorative objects displayed in front of them

The rest of the earth-toned material palette is dominated by woods such as white oak and walnut, complemented by upholstery from Maharam, Knoll and Carol Leather.

At the edge, bespoke seating by ORA is placed under illuminated light boxes that create silhouettes of the decorative objects presented on the shelves in front.

The stripes in the travertine slabs behind the sushi bar and drinks bar are highlighted by thin metal shelves for storing dishes and bottles.

Also in the bar area, a special sculptural lamp by LA artist Kazuki Takizawa, reminiscent of cherry blossoms, hangs above the end of the stone counter.

Custom-made concrete planters under wooden board partitions extend to a dining area on the terrace — Custom-made concrete planters under the wooden board partitions extend to the dining area on the terrace

Both the solid white oak and brass bar stools from Lawson-Fenning and the handmade ceramic lamps from Ceramicah were made locally.

Other California artists featured in this space include Liisa Liiva, Molly Haynes, Rajiv Khilnani and Rachel Duvall.

Hallway lined with thin wooden strips — The hallway to the bathrooms is lined with thin wooden strips

The bathrooms are accessed via a hallway lined with thin vertical wooden strips and are themselves clad in dark grey tiles.

Uchi – which means “house” in Japanese – also has locations in Austin, Miami, Dallas and Denver, while sister brand Uchiko has a Michael Hsu-designed branch in Houston.

The photographs are by Eric Staudenmaier.

Project credits:

Architect: OR
Interior design: OR
Furniture and accessories: Hai Hospitality and ORA
Lighting: dot dash
Landscape: Stephen Billings Landscape Architects
Structurally: Our engineering
Mechanically: Technical solutions
Electric: TEK Engineering Group
Catering design: Myers
Contractor: Create group
Timber merchant: Angel City Wood
Carpentry work: Architectural woodwork from Montana

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