Chez Lionel Brasserie Française

Discipline : Interior Design

Categories : Hospitality — Accommodation, Restaurant & Bar / Restaurant : Gold certification

Categories : Special Awards / Interior + Lighting : Gold certification

Chez Lionel Montréal: Rethinking the French Brasserie

Located near the Bell Centre, the new Chez Lionel restaurant, designed by Cléo Katcho Design Architectural, offers a contemporary reinterpretation of the French brasserie, grounded in spatial fluidity, user experience, and the strategic integration of existing constraints.

The project occupies a 1990s building originally defined by a fragmented layout, where the dining room, bar, and mezzanines coexisted without cohesion. A structural granite core, impossible to relocate, represented the site’s primary constraint. Rather than resisting it, the design transforms this element into the anchor of the spatial organization.

A defining gesture shapes the project: the appropriation of the building’s lobby to create a lounge and bar area seamlessly connected to the restaurant. Initially perceived as a risk, this intervention redefines the threshold between interior and exterior while establishing a strong visual presence from the street.

The bar, repositioned on the ground floor, becomes the active heart of the space and a point of convergence from the moment of arrival. Circulation between the lounge, bar, and dining area unfolds naturally, while the unification of the mezzanines enhances spatial clarity and maintains continuous visual connections between levels.

Lighting plays a central role in shaping the experience. The transition between the brightly lit lobby and the more intimate brasserie atmosphere is achieved through a carefully controlled gradation of light, preserving a sense of intimacy without compromising transparency. Custom lighting fixtures and integrated lighting strategies help define volumes and highlight materiality.

Materially, the project balances heritage and contemporaneity. Existing granite elements are preserved and elevated as identity markers, while brick, metal, and custom lighting reinterpret the codes of the French brasserie. Structured greenery evokes the great European glasshouses in a refined, contemporary language.

Discreet acoustic solutions ensure sound comfort within a mineral and open environment, without compromising the overall aesthetic.

Chez Lionel redefines the standards of the contemporary brasserie, demonstrating that meaningful design emerges from the intelligent transformation of existing conditions.

The project in images