Shanghai Gardens / Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse is an established restaurant that moved to a new location.  The client's objective was to maintain its position as a leader in the Asian restaurant market without having the typical Asian restaurant appearance.  Shanghai Gardens offered the challenge of creating a new and distinctive design out of an existing building that was anything but distinctive.  The masonry kitchen of the old building was salvaged and a steel frame was constructed around the existing walls.  This took the building from one with a sloped wooden roof with low walls to one with high walls and a flat roof.

While the client was looking for a new image, the new restaurant kept the garden and koi pond featured at the previous location.  New grill tables and ventilation were added to the dining room and a two-story pagoda-style structure was added to the exterior to communicate the purpose of the building.  A fire suppression system was also added to a structure that previously had none.