Food & Drink

Meleca Architecture is mentioned in the Food & Drink Winter 2010 publication which features Bensi Italian Restaurant. 

You may recall in an earlier post, Meleca Architecture was awarded Best Interior Design for 2010 by the Hampton Road Association for Commercial Real Estates (HRACRE) Excellence in Development Design Awards for our work on Bensi. 

Congratulation to Bensi for their continued recognition. 

Bensi Ristorante Italiano Wins 2010 Best Interior Design Award

Meleca Architecture has won Best Interior Design for 2010 in the Hampton Road Association for Commercial Real Estates (HRACRE) Excellence in Development Design Awards for Bensi Ristorante Italiano.  This is the major design and development award ceremony for the Hampton Roads region including areas such as, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, and Williamsburg.

Bensi opened this past Spring in the Peninsula Town Center in Hampton, Virginia, developed by Steiner + Associates.  The 180-seat restaurant design theme is Italian Modern - which means modern forms with traditional detailing.   

Bensi Ristorante Italiano

Bensi Ristorante Italiano located at Peninsula Town Center in Hampton, Virginia, is just one of the latest designs added to Meleca Architecture's archive of restaurant projects.
  

Photographs courtesy Steiner + Associates and  Anthony Prater photography

Bensi opened this past Spring in the lifestyle center developed by Steiner + Associates.  The restaurant design theme is Italian Modern - which means modern forms with traditional detailing.

One design challenge was the main window because it let in so much light and defined the space so strongly.

So, the design centered around that window.  Meleca came up with the idea that the large window could be similar to an old train station with barrel vaulting with thermal windows.
 



The 180 seat restaurant is set within a redevelopment of an existing retail center.  The once enclosed mall is now an open-air shopping destination.  It's the only 'town center' development in the region. 

 Steiner is also the developer of Columbus' Easton Town Center.