Restaurant Design and Restaurant Interior Design

Restaurant Design and Function: How Will the Space Work?

In fact, a restaurant's success is often decided before the first line is drawn. The segment defines the target guest, the target guest defines the location, and the location defines the rent. In our experience, rent should not exceed roughly ten percent of turnover, while produce, labour and energy share most of the rest. We break down this distribution item by item in our restaurant operating costs article.

Choosing the premises calls for the same care. In Türkiye, for example, opening a restaurant in a unit registered as residential in the title deed requires the unanimous consent of all owners in the building. Electrical capacity, the flue route and wastewater should also be checked before signing the lease. We have compiled the details in our choosing a restaurant location article.

Restaurant design itself starts in plan, with the relationship between kitchen and dining room. Service flow, storage and staff movement are resolved in the same drawing, so the technical infrastructure is part of that drawing too; in our projects it accounts for roughly 10 to 20 percent of the total investment. We explain why a hood alone is not a ventilation system in our restaurant technical infrastructure article, and cover the full opening budget in our cost of opening a restaurant article.

Restaurant Design and Belonging: What Will the Space Make You Feel?

In the restaurant design process, the concept is the name of the feeling that emerges from the analysis. At OT Kafe, our starting point was the multi-layered language of Ot magazine. At 6:45, the rebellious spirit of Kaybedenler Kulübü shaped the character of the space. At Düveroğlu, in business since 1963, we did not imitate the lines of the years the brand was born; we evoked them through colour and feeling.

This feeling then turns into architectural tools. Light, materials, colour, texture and sound are not separate decisions; they are parts of the same rhythm. In many restaurants, for example, 2700–3000 K warm white light is a natural starting point, and for the true colour of food we prefer light sources with a CRI of 90 or above. And when we design light, we design shadow too. More details in our restaurant and café lighting article.

When this rhythm is right, the space tells the guest "you belong here". Every now and then, a former client walks into another venue in the same city and says, "you designed this place". When we ask how they could tell, they don't mention a material, but the way the light is used or the feeling it awakens in them. We explore this idea in our Emotion and Belonging in Interior Architecture article, and our view of restaurant architecture in our Designing a Restaurant article.

Restaurant Design and Architectural Language: What Becomes of the Space Over Time?

When a brand grows, restaurant design faces a new question: how do you preserve its identity? Making every branch a copy of the others is the easiest way. Instead of a standard, we prefer to build an architectural language, with defined materials, proportions, light and details. Each branch is still reinterpreted for its neighbourhood, its building and its guests.

Indeed, most of these brands were born with us, with their very first venue: OT was a magazine, 6:45 a publishing house. Balıkçıköy Fahri and the BeyMen restaurants in Germany and the Netherlands, a restaurant brand we built from the ground up, also began with their first venues. We have tested this approach longest with OT and 6:45. For OT Kafe we have designed 28 projects; in 2026 the idea of a "New OT" was born at OT Kafe Çanakkale. Under the 6:45 Kaybedenler Kulübü umbrella brand, we designed 21 venues: 18 bars, pubs and live music venues branded 6:45, two 6:45 Standart Coffee shops (Acıbadem, Bolu) and the Kaybedenler Kulübü meyhane in Bolu. We were also at the table in these brands' franchise negotiations.

Finally, the test of time is a measure too. Düveroğlu and Balıkçıköy Fahri still operate with their original design after many years. Balıkçıköy Fahri and OT Kafe were both Highly Commended at the European Property Awards.

Format Differences in Restaurant, Café, Bar and Pub Design

Restaurant design calls for a different rhythm in every format. In a coffee shop, for example, fast flow and short stays come first. Coffee Store Meydan Beşiktaş is one such project. In an evening restaurant, the dining experience and the rhythm of service are decisive. In an ocakbaşı grill house, the grill, ventilation and dining room are resolved in the same plan; İki Duble Ocakbaşı is an example.

Bars and pubs add a stage, a bar counter, acoustics and an atmosphere that changes through the night. For example, at Dorock XL, in Beşiktaş, the stage, bar and social areas shared the same volume, so we addressed the acoustics from the very beginning. Pub Meydan and the Kaybedenler Kulübü meyhane in Bolu are also among our nightlife venues. In addition, we have designed more than 50 restaurants, cafés and commercial spaces in Ankara since 1999. All our restaurant, café and bar projects are available to explore.