What previously resembled a White Castle gone to Disneyland now looks like a swanky, sophisticated diner with a new burgundy color palette. The studio known for its lush hospitality interiors, Parts and Labor Design, gave Capital City Diner in Albany, New York, a retro refresh, reinterpreting classic elements of the space with sophisticated materials and lots of texture.
The design team refreshed the facade and clad the interior with pattern and gloss. The material palette is patterned and varied: Rosso Levanto marble meets fluted black and white tiles, oak planks, red leather, glass block abutting windows, and lots of chrome. The ceiling complements the interior’s burgundy and chrome color palette with its barreled wood and milky glass fins.
The rich palette makes the familiar diner features—checkered flooring, leather booths, swiveling barstools—feel familiar yet foreign. Parts and Labor custom-made the booths, upholstered in high-sheen burgundy vinyl and trimmed with a grid checked pattern, in reference to vintage automotive design. Other refined touches are found in the cantilevered stools and circular booths that offer larger and more intimate seating.
Lighting and furniture make small references to the 1960s and 1970s, featuring pyramidal pendants, cylindrical table lamps, and bulb-filled chandeliers. The fixtures continue the chrome and burgundy color scheme while offering sculptural, geometric contrast.
The result makes for recognizable diner aesthetics, rendered in a fresh contemporary iteration. It’s both welcoming, in line with the diner’s identity as a family-owned business, and timelessly chic to endure the ages.