Pireu Seafood Restaurant

Pireu is one of most famous restaurant in Tirana.The design for the new restaurant was a radical change  as stated in  the slogan on its signboard: “Nothing has changed, nothing is the same as before” shows the elegance changing in fact.

The genesis on which the whole concept of the project was built around the maritime and fishing theme. The project is developed in three floors that  communicate with each-other through the two stories high “gallery”. The concept of renovation is almost minima,  based on the colors of the earth, with simple materials such as: concrete, iron, processed soils, bas-reliefs inside and out, greenery hanging on the facade, glass, processed wood and parquet. The materials are used simply by treating them more within themselves or let’s say in micro world.

The façade is enriched with the theme of the underwater world, with a bas-reflied at entrance where the main element is the fish itself. The visual experience takes on another dimension in the western façade, where the “green vases” included in the façade structure play a key role in giving the building a more natural and unique touch.

Another novelty of this project is also the involvement of two visual artists with their work:  Arben Bajo and Orion Shima. The bas-relief realized by the artist Arben Bajo, his last project, integrates the history of fishing in different cultures. A mosaic of cultures brought masterfully, which fosters and enlivens the whole customer experience. In perfect symmetry with this bas-relief is the large window along the gallery.

The works of the famous painter Orion Shima are the artistic elements that complement  the whole  maritime theme. Also the mural in the Privé area is created and realized by Orion Shima.

The project comes somewhat in a rough shape, readable as the bare ceiling in the natural color of concrete, as well as in the choice of metal as corten. The whole environment is welcoming and warm, mainly from the color palette in the upholstery and from the neoclassical parquet, in contrast, but in balance, with the main “box” of the project.

The maritime/nautical l theme is also reflected in the elements in the entrance of the building, where the “wooden columns”, beyond the function of creating intimacy by prying eyes, evoke the ship's anchoring elemnets in the harbour, where time marks and shapes the wooden column.