MAMENORI Duck’s: Order and Controlled Chaos in a Lviv Asian Restaurant
Design: Replus Bureau | Project: MAMENORI DUCK’S | Location: Lviv, Ukraine | Year: 2026 | Photography: Roman Cayman | Art: Viktoria Fartushna (ilumina), published with bowerbird
Replus Bureau, the studio behind Siavo Dive Bar in Lviv, has completed MAMENORI, an Asian restaurant that steers away from the usual shorthand for Japan. Rather than recreating a recognisable image through decoration, the interior borrows a way of working: balance, restraint and close attention to detail, set against exposed construction, hand-chipped tile and the informal energy of a contemporary street café.
Concept – How do you translate Japanese culture without relying on decoration?
The starting point was a contemporary Japanese street café rather than a picture of Japan: informal and busy, but built with the precision and clarity associated with Japanese aesthetics. The influence shows up as principles rather than motifs, namely balance, restraint, simplicity and attention to detail.
Clean lines, controlled proportions and a structured composition set up the order. Raw textures, industrial elements and deliberately irregular details introduce the disorder. The studio describes the result as an interior where refinement and imperfection sit side by side.
For more interiors that interpret Japanese ideas rather than copy them, see our Japanese cafe designs, including Mountain Mover Café in Tokyo.
Order and chaos – How do the two sit together in one room?
Replus Bureau sets out three principles for the project:
- Balance. Symmetry, rhythm and proportion form a calm framework in which every element has its place.
- Controlled chaos. Exposed structures, industrial references and unexpected material combinations bring in the energy of contemporary Asian cities, creating tension between precision and spontaneity.
- Honest materials. Steel profiles, linoleum, exposed lighting and tactile surfaces are shown as they are, celebrating construction rather than disguising it.
The tension is deliberate. The room is ordered, the studio says, but never overly polished.
Exposed construction – Why leave building systems on show?
“Rather than adding layers of decoration, we wanted to reveal what is already there,” says Kris Badzyan of Replus Bureau. “The building process itself became part of the design language. Materials that are usually considered technical or unfinished can have their own aesthetic value when they are used with intention.”
In practice, drywall framing profiles, industrial aluminium sections and machine-frame profiles are used as architectural elements, furniture and wall features. The bar is built from machine profiles. Lighting profiles that would normally disappear into a plasterboard ceiling hang in the open above the bar and banquet area. Terracotta masonry blocks and partitions are left exposed as a finished surface, so their raw texture and construction logic become part of the room.
Custom furniture and art – What was made specifically for the project?
Bespoke chairs and tables were developed for the interior, combining industrial materials with carefully considered proportions. Exposed birch plywood, stainless steel and powder-coated steel pair warm and cool surfaces, and the project’s material palette also lists linoleum on the tables. Replus Bureau describes the chairs as balancing industrial precision with tactile warmth, their clean geometry reinforcing the dialogue between Japanese restraint and the raw character of Asian urban spaces.
Hand-painted artwork was created specifically for the project and integrated into the architecture rather than applied as decoration, adding a human, imperfect layer to the structured room. The art is credited to Viktoria Fartushna (ilumina).
Imperfection – Why chip the tiles by hand?
Off-grade ceramic tiles, which do not meet first-quality grading, are laid in an intentionally irregular composition and chipped by hand to remove the sense of factory perfection. Rather than hiding variation, the design uses it to build rhythm and individuality across the space.
The wider palette follows the same logic: ceramic, terracotta, metal, plywood and linoleum alongside industrial construction components, with rough set against refined, handmade against manufactured, and regular against irregular.
Sustainability – What does it mean here?
For Replus Bureau it is part of the design philosophy rather than a visual feature, and the project does not aim for a recognisable “sustainable aesthetic”. The question is how materials are valued, used and discarded. Off-grade tiles get a new use, industrial profiles become architecture and furniture, and construction components stay exposed wherever possible, which reduces the need for additional finishing layers.
“We are interested in finding beauty in materials that are usually overlooked,” says designer Alina Maksymenko. “Sustainability begins with this change in perception: using what already exists, giving materials a second purpose and creating spaces that can remain relevant beyond short-lived trends.”
The studio also points to longevity: durable materials, adaptable details and a restrained palette intended to let the interior age gracefully rather than follow trends.
Replus Bureau took a similar approach at Siavo Dive Bar, where an original Austrian terrazzo floor and salvaged elements shaped the design
Photography by Roman Cayman, art by Viktoria Fartushna (ilumina), published with bowerbird.
More from Lviv: Siavo Dive Bar, Kopalnia Kava and all Lviv cafes. Explore European cafe designs or browse every style on our cafe designs page.
Author: Andrew Chung
Andrew Chung is an architect based in Sydney, Australia, and the founder of Best Cafe Designs. He combines architecture, photography, coffee and web design to showcase exceptional cafe designs from around the world.
