Design according to life in Montreal: The work of MRDK

The local creative force of Guillaume Ménard and David Dworkind of the Montreal-based studio MRDK is true to Montreal, treating its culture and the way people live in it as a source of inspiration.

It’s an approach to design that’s produced a body of interior and architectural work featuring some of the city’s most stunning and memorable restaurants, bars, and cafés.

Perhaps it’s only natural that the two designers have focused on places of hospitality, as they find a bit of home in the work they do.

“We’re mainly inspired by the vibe and feel of Montreal,” Guillaume says over a mid-afternoon video call with David. “How people live here, understand their limits, how they start to feel comfortable and stop feeling comfortable.”

“It’s that cultural element and convivial nature of Montrealers that we design for and try to instill in the projects we work on internationally,” David adds.

Take the studio’s most recent work at the new wave French brasserie Casavant in Villeray: Tables push patrons together elbow-to-elbow for chance interactions between wines and bites, a somm uncorking bottles stands out from the crowd, a bartender’s furious shakers grab attention, or a hustling open kitchen catches your eye. At its entrance, its street-facing side of windows creates a continuity with the sidewalk of de Castelnau, projecting energy into the street while passersby can feel as though they need only reach past the threshold to grab a drink.

“If you’re going to design a restaurant in Montreal, it needs to feel like Montreal.”

It’s a signature liveliness often found through their collective portfolio dating back to 2010, how people naturally dine and spend time together influences space through and through—the unique yet ineffable way Montrealers do what they do.

MRDK will admit that many facets of their work are by no means exclusive to Montreal, but it’s also unlike anything found in cities like New York or Tokyo, cities that seek out a constant innovation by comparison. Instead, their designs’ innovations will draw people in, but an embedded familiarity and conviviality keeps them inside and coming back.

“If I could say something about what a space should have, it’s a perfect balance of innovation and nostalgia. We don’t want to only be nostalgic, or only innovative,” Guillaume says.

“If you’re going to design a restaurant in Montreal, it needs to feel like Montreal.”

David points to the now-commonplace feature of open kitchens as an example. “Our cultural sortie is to go to a restaurant and get a show, get some action; something we like to incorporate in our work is putting servers and chefs on display.”

Each space they’ve created together features gestures grand yet natural, points of action around which guests can gather. Design becomes an invisible hand that gently pushes people together to gather, be loud or as quiet as they want, and create moments between them.

“We want to force interactions by pushing people closer than they are normally. We always say that’s why we go out, we want to meet people, we want it to be loud, we want those happy accidents to happen,” Guillaume explains.

“If there’s too much distance between us, we may as well eat at home. So there’s a theatrical aspect that we try to push as much as possible.”

Instinctive designers

Their process is the result of working together for years, as the two designers have found their own way of approaching a project through their individual intricacies: As Guillaume focuses on the macro levels of walls and floors, making big statements, David develops small details and minutiae that fill the space and activate it.

It’s a blended approach that’s been honed over the years, creating a design identity that’s as consistent as it is one of evolution and growth.

Their collaborative energy goes as far back as when they first worked together on the massive, now-closed project Miss Wong in Laval, a pivotal moment in their career together developing spaces that are far from what Guillaume calls ‘pale copies’ of the culture they’re meant to embody and instead give it a Montreal treatment adapted to what part of the city they're in.

“There are philosopher architects that come up with elaborate analyses and rationales that tie their projects together, but Guillaume and I are the opposite; we’re instinctive designers.”

“Having such different backgrounds, we both brought such different things to the table, and it was a good fit. We’d sit and listen to punk rock from the 90s and 2000s that we both grew up on and bonded over that, and there was an instant synergy.”

That process forms a twisting helix of MRDK DNA, like how their name abstracts their last names into one entity, a filter through which clients’ ideas pass through—something so successful that the awards started coming in.

“We always want to respect the initial concept the client comes with, and we try to reinvent ourselves with every project, and that’s how we learn,” Guillaume explains. “We’re not designers with egos; we’re there to listen and translate ideas, that’s the most exciting part about approaching a project.”

While the studio’s at a point where the pair have taken on their own individual projects, their time together has set a precedent for a brand and design that carries through in everything they’ve since embarked on.

“There are philosopher architects that come up with elaborate analyses and rationales that tie (their projects) together, but Guillaume and I are the opposite; we’re instinctive designers,” David explains.

Never work a day in your life

Just as their instinctual styles blend together, so too do Guillaume and David’s sense of purpose.

"Everyone needs to have a purpose in what they’re doing, and for us, we’re making streets come alive."

“I love returning to a space we’ve designed and see it’s aged beautifully, and that Montrealers like to go there,” Guillaume says. “That’s mission accomplished; it’s organic and part of the landscape, of the street, of the city.”

“Knowing that I got to leave a trace, a mark on Montreal… if my son tells his son that his grandfather designed a place and that the tartare there is just as good? It’s made me think of the heritage of what I do. Everyone needs to have a purpose in what they’re doing, and for us, we’re making streets come alive,” he adds.

“What we’re doing is providing something memorable and influential on people’s experiences," David says.

"We’re weaving ourselves into the fabric of Montreal by designing these places, and going back to our work, we want to know how they interact with it. Space has such a profound impact on us, especially as we grow older... and it’s impactful to think I’m creating places of memory."