Noma Australia
As the world’s best restaurant prepared to relocate to Sydney’s Barangaroo precinct, René Redzepi and his team trusted Foolscap as the firm capable of realising their vision. Tasked with creating a "uniquely Australian" Noma experience, Foolscap adopted the restaurant's hyperlocal approach; creating bespoke touchpoints with local artisans and craftspeople to root the globally renowned identity deeply in place.
Noma Australia was a landmark hospitality collaboration between Foolscap, Lendlease, and René Redzepi’s Copenhagen-based team, relocating the world’s best restaurant to Sydney’s Barangaroo precinct. The project delivered a complete interior architecture and brand experience reflecting a distinctly Australian identity through materiality, narrative, and craft.
Redzepi’s brief called for a space “uniquely Australian” in spirit and form. Working closely with the Noma and Lendlease design teams, Foolscap translated the restaurant’s research-led culinary philosophy into an immersive dining environment that expressed both the ancient and contemporary Australian condition. The concept drew from the continent’s elemental landscape — oxidised earth, coastline, open sky, and the regeneration of bushland through fire.
The temporary 500m² restaurant encompassed front and back of house, kitchens, R&D labs, and service areas, meticulously planned to meet Noma’s exacting functional standards. Foolscap travelled to Copenhagen to learn from Noma's operations crew to ensure the spatial flow supported the team's distinctive service choreography and culinary precision.
Material choices embodied Australia’s raw landscape and Noma’s connection to land and sea. Charred timber, oxidised metals, local stone, and translucent glass elements evoked the interplay between earth and water — central to both the menu and design concept. Every surface and texture reinforced an authenticity of process; from handcrafted furniture to custom ceramics and uniforms.
The result was a refined, sensory-driven experience rooted in material honesty and craftsmanship. The spatial narrative unfolded through weight, light, and texture. Noma’s open-fire cooking techniques were reflected in the palette of charred, earthen finishes, enhancing the ritual and theatre of dining.
Foolscap led the interior architecture design, construction delivery, and holistic brand experience design — including signage, tableware, uniforms, and printed collateral.
Noma Australia delivered a complete, cohesive expression of the restaurant's ethos through the lens of place, craft, and innovation. The project stands as an exemplar of hospitality design driven by narrative, material authenticity, and collaboration between global and local creative communities.
A sketch section in collaboration with Lendlease architects
"Beyond its reputation for creativity and design, Foolscap shares many of Noma’s core values — collaboration, innovation, and excellence — along with a mutual focus on sustainability.
To envision a design that stayed true to Noma’s philosophy of “time and place,” Foolscap created a restaurant reflecting the distinct, rugged, and expansive character of the Australian landscape. Equally important was Foolscap’s passion, commitment, and enduring friendship throughout the collaboration."
— Noma Copenhagen Partner & CEO Ben Liebmann
