Working with essential themes from the Yankee lexicon, its traditions, heroes, and iconic elements, we create a contemporary interpretation of the team and its stature. This 4,000 SF restaurant on the Club Level of Yankee Stadium is neither retro-sentimental nor an English hunt club in its vocabulary. Eschewing dark wood paneling (and worse yet faux wood/formica paneling) and polished brass, we instead use a crisp contemporary palette. Our design celebrates an ethereally abstracted Yankee Stadium frieze using intermittent sheets of diffusing glass and innovative LED lighting. In addition, our palette draws from the essence of baseball. Oak, which is used in bats, glove leather, and baseballs themselves are synthesized into clean millwork paneling, bar upholstery and an oversize banquette, and a sculptural element in the entry rotunda respectively. The use of these materials and elements creates a connective bond between the space and the sport. To further underscore its specificity to the New York Yankees we use their team colors as well as iconic photography and contemporary media. It offers a sophisticated and breakthrough approach to hospitality design in sports venues.

All photographs © 2005 David Sundberg/Esto