Senorita Burrita
Lancaster, PA // Fascade Intervention // 2003
The seemingly simple request of two young restaurateurs quickly became a demanding project with all the trappings of municipal code compliance, historical commission reviews, fabrication and construction coordination, and deadline concerns. In the end however, the design remained a simple solution for an otherwise difficult series of problematic conditions, both tangible and implicit.
Intended to create a street presence for a restaurant coop containing both a California-style burrito eatery along with a coffee and espresso bar, the solution developed into an integration and literal overlapping of three fundamental elements: canopy, portal and sign. In reality, the entire assembly became sign. At the pedestrian scale of movement and dimension, the assembly provides a textural encounter with a modern, yet authentic palette of materials (stainless steel, brushed aluminum, galvanized, corrugated metal, Corten, glass and cedar) juxtaposed against the raw background of historic brick, painted wood and float glass.