The design of the new Pusdaee’s Garden Restaurant evolved from the owner’s desire to create a garden oasis within the dense urban fabric of the city. Located along Butler Street in Pittsburgh’s upper Lawrenceville neighborhood, the original Thai restaurant operated for a decade from a small storefront of a 100-year-old brick commercial rowhouse. After acquiring another 100-year-old rowhouse and the vacant properties between them, a design was developed to expand the restaurant and create a unique courtyard garden dining experience.

Revitalizing the two historic buildings, a design solution was developed that allowed the space between them to be enclosed by two connecting additions. At the front of the site, a new brick wall is introduced as a threshold that provides a barrier to the busy urban street, privacy to the interior garden, and a connective arcade.

The centerpiece of the restaurant is the garden courtyard which features a steel 15’ tall glass box pavilion housing the bar, with its soaring ceiling, monolithic natural marble bar, a full height herringbone tile feature wall, and glass wine display cooler. Within the courtyard, a variety of materials and plantings are designed with consideration for all four seasons. A simple, quiet architectural palette of materials are chosen to allow the landscape to shine through. Existing brick facades offer rich historic texture, in contrast with the elegant new contemporary additions.

The interior restaurant is transformed into four new dining room vignettes, each with their own materiality and artwork, including a large open event dining room. A reserved, natural palette of interior materials connects and mimics the natural beauty of the courtyard. The second rear addition completes the enclosure of the garden courtyard including a new open-style kitchen. With a prominent view to the courtyard, the open kitchen is the heart of the restaurant featuring traditional Thai charcoal grills, marble countertop, and custom bronze panels with live patina finish which surround the cooking hoods.

The design captures the magic of an intimate and tranquil dining experience that seamlessly transports guests away from the city and into a lush and welcoming garden oasis.