With dramatic views of Boston's skyline, Education First's (EF) Lingo Café delights the senses. Prellwitz Chilinski Associates' (PCA) design creates a 10,000 s/f restaurant with servery, dining room, and bar enjoyed by employees and the public alike. This gem in Cambridge's North Point is the place to team up with colleagues or gather with friends by day or by night, setting the stage for collaboration and community.
A world leader in international education, EF's new headquarters, designed by Sweden's Wingårdhs Architecture Studio, makes a bold statement at North Point Park, with a jagged slice through the building's façade evoking images of ice and water cascading to the ground to dissolve into the waters of the adjacent Charles River canal.
PCA was selected to create a restaurant adjacent to the main lobby that interprets and adapts the design aesthetic established by the architects. To comply with public space requirements, the restaurant was to offer access to additional seating on the second floor, above an intermediary parking level.
Dana Santucci, EF's vice president for development praised the new restaurant design, stating that "This elegant space embraces the spirit of EF, reflecting our mission of opening the world through education. The design truly inspires, whether providing lunch for our staff, a quiet space to work together, or a dramatic environment for functions."
Working closely with EF and the building architects, PCA has crafted a luminescent space subdivided into specific areas designed for the functions required at different times of the day. A sculptural connecting stair has become a focal point, progressing in angled levels to the second floor. Wrapped with LED uplights, the stair creates a glow for the center of the space and provides an anchor for the bar and its cabinetry that conceals bar service functions during morning activities.