An unfinished flat in Riga becomes a veggie pop-up restaurant

A Latvian architectural studio has designed a pop-up restaurant in an unfinished flat in Riga.

Commissioned by chef Inars Birmans, Venue 54 is a vegetarian restaurant, decorated with hand-made furniture crafted from leftover materials, ranging from the packaging that decorates the chairs, the scaffolds used to divide the room into smaller areas, and the individual bricks used as support for the bar. The contrast between the place’s clean neat lines, and the materials usually associated with a building site, is what makes the restaurant feel fresh and sleek.

“That sense of incompleteness and the unknown inspired our design concept,” the architects say. “The solutions are affordable, adaptable and easy to transport, rooted in the ideas of responsible reuse. Every piece has the chance at another life after the restaurant shuts its doors for the last time.”

The pop-up is currently located in an unoccupied apartment, meaning that a potential buyer for the property could end the initiative anytime. Rather than a challenge, this prospect is part of the venue’s ethos — that’s why it’s a pop up.