Happyhappyjoyjoy is inspired by the hectic streets of Asia, serving small dishes influenced by the streets and markets of Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, and South Korea.
concrete designed the concept, name, interior design and total identity of happyhappyjoyjoy; a restaurant which represents an eclectic mix and conglomeration of different streets and alleys, packed with rich colours, textures, prints, lights and different seating areas with smoking woks and steamers in the background. The restaurant is divided in five spaces, each with a unique identity, capturing the organised chaos that characterises Asian streets. concrete’s ambition for the venue was to create a new generation of restaurants and interior design, and break with current trends. concrete believes happyhappyjoyjoy will be a destination where guests will experience joy and happiness in a playful environment that stimulates the senses in every way; a space where everyone will feel positive, and where a smile will automatically appear on visitors’ faces.
WALK THROUGH Approaching the building, passers-by are drawn in by happyhappyjoyjoy written in neon on the façade, with 18 richly coloured light boxes just behind the windows.
The alley The entrance of the restaurant refers to an alley, with a second façade equipped with a custom made wall of louvre doors that enhance the street feeling and arch over the open connection to the bar further into the restaurant. Between de actual glass façade and the second louvre façade, the alley features 18 light boxes, varying in size, artwork and height. High tables with bar stools along the windows are available for a quick snack or to wait for street food to-go.
The café The galvanised steel bar, accompanied by 17 barstools, is centrally situated in the front of the restaurant and crowned by a bottle-rack filled with Asian beers, wines, sakes, spirits and careful selected teas. The walls around the bar are painted in a jade green. Two oak cabinets, placed on opposite walls, provide extra storage space. The cabinets consist of shelves angled at 45 degrees, which feature Asian goods presented with a twist. The happyhappyjoyjoy neon sign is attached to both cabinets and lights up the room in neon red. High tables are connected to the cabinets, each accompanied by 4 bar stools for the option of enjoying a quick snack at the bar or waiting for street food to-go.
The restaurant Further into the building, the restaurant area radiates a completely different, and even more colourful atmosphere. The walls are covered in colourful artwork, featuring a collection of posters and pamphlets collected in Asia, and some created specifically for happyhappyjoyjoy. The artwork is plastered randomly on all walls (like an illegal poster wall) and even continues into the large alcoves. The area is divided into two rooms with custom made oak park style benches against the walls, accompanied by chairs by Verywood, and tables from Satelliet. The red coloured backlit paper umbrella ceiling strengthens the warm Asian ambiance of the room.
The back street alley The kitchen is connected to the back street alley. A steel wall of hawker stalls rises in the back with four openings framing the kitchen where woks, steamers and gas burners bring the restaurant to Asian temperatures. The alley contains high tables and bar stools for groups to enjoy the spectacle in the kitchen. The wall opposite to the kitchen is painted in black chalkboard paint and celebrates Julius Jaspers’ recipes in step-by-step drawings. The alley is illuminated by five huge Proplights by Bertjan Pot for moooi featuring bulb lights, reminiscent of garlands of random streetlights as seen in pop-up street food stalls.
The private dining The private dining of happyhappyjoyjoy is located on the left-end of the back street alley. The walls are decorated in the same way as the alley, but the spaces can be closed off using steel doors set with glass panels. Behind the table, which offers eight seats, an artwork of 99 melamine sushi plates in six different colours completes the space.
The restrooms Situated at the end of the back street alley white tiles in a stretcher bond cover the walls from the floor up. Halfway up, the wall features a bespoke ‘happy banknote wallpaper’.
HAPPYHAPPYJOYJOY IDENTITY The identity of happyhappyjoyjoy contains carefully selected as well as randomly picked Asian elements in order to capture the smile that goes with eating well with the people you love.
The logo A school script font enhancing the longitude of the name, as if it was written with noodles. Mainly appearing in happyhappyjoyjoy-red PANTONE C199 (neon signs, menu, napkins, chopsticks). Also appearing as a pattern, with the logo repeated on an angle of 45º (menu, grease proof paper).
The happy-mouth logo Shown on the artwork, stickers, buttons, wet wipes and the label of sauce bottles.
The menu A typical Asian, gate-fold, numbered menu, with the logo framing the different columns and showing the pattern when folded. The kids can choose from the standard menu, and receive a special origami ‘how to fold a swan’ placemat.
The light boxes The images in the boxes (next to the logos) are zoom-ins, built from the script and the words happyhappyjoyjoy written in the six languages of the countries that inspired the menu.
The poster wall A collection of posters and pamphlets collected in Asia, and some that were created specifically for happyhappyjoyjoy.
The stationary A standard font selection of Futura std, regular and bold outline. The back of the stationary contains the artwork of the poster wall.
