Serving of cottage pie: Rita restaurant
Architect of Rita, Mary Daish, says the large wall mural was a way to add texture and depth to the space.
The restaurant sits in an old worker’s cottage in Wellington’s Aro Valley.
At just three metres wide, space saving measures were taken to make the most of the space.
The owners wanted Rita to sit comfortably within its neighbourhood. The interior design elements were chosen to reflect the Aro Valley.
The mural on the wall was created by graphic designer Sarah Maxey.
The cottage dates back to 1910 and has a long, narrow footprint.
A small, unassuming worker’s cottage in Wellington’s Aro Valley has taken on a new lease of life with the opening of Rita, a restaurant by the people behind City Gallery’s Nikau Café.
The long, narrow footprint of the house, which dates back to 1910, necessitated an understated palette of colours and materials from architect Mary Daish, who designed the fit-out of this new restaurant, Rita. A key move was to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining spaces, so that diners could have a connection to the vibrancy of the kitchen and also see who cooked their meals, says Daish.
“We wanted the spaces to contribute to each other and be integrated, but still have a sense of serenity for the diners. We thought about how the kitchen implements, such as the beautiful terracotta plates from San Francisco, could become like the wallpaper, providing texture and colour for the restaurant.”
Built-in bench seating gives flexibility in terms of numbers at the tables, which can be pushed together to accommodate larger groups. The 3m-wide cottage led to the design of cutlery drawers under the tables to save space.
“The owners came with the idea this would be very much a neighbourhood eating house: not a formal dining service but a space connected to the neighbourhood and cottage they bought,” says Daish. This instigated the choices for the green bench seats, which reflect the colours of
the bush in the Aro Valley.
The gold cushions then add a sense of lush to counter the moody greens. The mural on the wall was created by Sarah Maxey. “This defines the alcove there as its own space within the space,” says Daish. “The 3D nature of the mural also gives it a sense of depth.”
