Saladang Song Restaurant383 S. Fair Oaks Ave.Pasadena, Californiacompleted 2000

Saladang Song is a Thai restaurant located in a mixed commercial

neighborhood south of Old Pasadena. The client, “Dang” Vattanatham,

is a Thai woman whose traditional cultural values have been inflected

by her migration. She has developed a loyal clientele by offering refined

versions of traditional dishes, a kind of abstraction of Thai cuisine.

Clients with these kinds of issues and interests do not bring a prescribed,

transportable system of architectural expression. So in this case the

question became: How to make a building that in some sense comes

from another place and at the same time occupies its specific location?

At Saladang Song, the notion of engaging a larger context offered

opportunities to respond imaginatively to the specific conditions of the

site, budget, and program.

The building uses a modified version of standard tilt-up concrete

construction in combination with the emerging technology of laser-cut

steel. The monolithic concrete slabs that enclose the patio were poured

on site and raised into place, resting on concrete “chairs.” These slabs

were then “keyed” together to continuous footings, tied to grade beams

that extend beneath the building. The weight of the building keeps the

slabs from overturning outward.

The laser-cut steel screens were patterned after Thai textiles, but the

designs have been abstracted and transformed. In this way, the patterns

do not simply mimic the traditional forms, and they seek to avoid the

trappings of literal borrowing. These screens and other exposed steel

members are finished with a metallic-flake automotive paint.

PROJECT TEAM: Peter Tolkin, John R. Byram, Christopher Girt, Craig Rizzo, Anthony Denzer LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: Nicholas/GrahamENGINEERS: Kurily Szymanski Tchirkow, Inc. (structural); Khalifeh & Associates (mechanical, electrical, plumbing); Herb Cooper (civil); Jerry Kovacs & Associates (geotechnical/soils)CONSULTANTS: Eddie Effron (lighting); Wet Design (fountain)CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Tolkin + Byram & AssociatesPHOTOGRAPHER: Grant Mudford

A R C H I T E C T U R E

RESTAURANTS

T O L K I N & A S S O C I AT E S A R C H I T E C T U R E

SALADANG

41 WEST BELLEVUE DR IVE PASADENA CAL IFORNIA 91105 TEL 626 356 0443 FAX 626 356 0975 www. to lk inarch i tec tu re.com