Project Description
Waffle Champion spent its infancy as one of Oklahoma City’s favorite food trucks but quickly grew into 1,445 square feet on the ground level of 1212 North Walker, a four-story mixed-use building with residential apartments on the floors above. 1,408 square feet of basement space is the home of Waffle Champion’s commercial kitchen and offices.
The basic concept of the restaurant is simple: waffles. The perforated, square screens on Waffle Champion’s exterior mimic the geometry of a waffle grid. Simple, inexpensive materials were used to create a “deconstructed waffle” as the organizing element of the interior. Yellow pine lumber and sheets of maple veneer plywood were used to create light shrouds for the ceiling plane and lower shelving, as well as the bench seating and tables. The effect is different layers of intersecting planes, hence a deconstructed waffle. Polycarbonate wall panels along the common corridor bring light into the building and the color palette used comes straight from the hue of waffles and their creamy batter.
The perforated grid on the outside transformed a simple unassuming facade into a vibrant billboard for the tenant, and is brought inside the space for continuity. The panels are washed in light at night to provide dynamic effect in the evening.