Located on a crowded Hai Ba Trung street, Ola Hale Restaurant & Bar has a historical view overlooking Saigon’s signature pink Tan Dinh church. The original building was a Southern Vietnamese modernist architectural house, which was chosen based on the idea of bringing history into the concept of the brand. Being partially covered by the concrete-brick walls, there’s a green front yard that welcomes everyone to the restaurant. Since “‘ohana” means “home” in Hawaiian, we strive to bring this spirit to everyone who enters the restaurant as if they were returning to their home.

Visiting Ola Hale is an experience of interference between Hawaiian and Vietnamese cultures. In particular, this experience is designed according to the Vietnamese home visiting culture when everyone is welcomed at the bar on the ground floor, gathers together to have a meal on the first floor, and then bond more closely with each other at the bar, in a cozy space beneath the “sound of waves” on the ceiling and warm dim lights. It is even more ideal to enjoy the outdoor space on the 2nd floor balcony overlooking the historic pink Tan Dinh church.

In Ola Hale’s space, we collected and combined cultural pieces from Vietnam and Hawaii with the desire to tell a seamless story. From the surfboard shipped from Hawaii, the woven rattan walls inspired by the Nơm, or Thời – Vietnamese fishing tools, Bien Hoa ceramic vases, or the hand-shaped bar system made from blue-painted tunnel bricks that are the naked beauty of the original Vietnamese house construction, etc. and bring them into the harmonious arrangement of space.

The furniture is individually designed to create a feeling of home. The swinging chairs, woven bamboo walls, the large Ohana table with an imperfect, square shape… under the hands of a skilled young craftsman, come alive and seem to belong to Ola Hale. These are people who are sensitive to culture, they feel what we want and use their skillful hands to create them. Not only furniture and decorations, there are also murals painted by talented young artists. From the image of a Hawaiian girl embracing nature in her arms to the big waves rising in the blue sea, and tropical forests with animals and plants of Hawaii and Vietnam, through skillful hands and a couple. With the artist’s artistic eyes, the nature of the two cultural regions is displayed majestically and inspiringly.

We considered that the green areas were carefully designed and consistent with Ola Hale’s brand story, which is to bring the spirit of Vietnam into the space but also remind us of the Hawaiian tropical forest. So we chose dong, banana, and monstera leaves to create a green background to highlight tropical flowers such as Porcelain and banana flowers. The highlight of the project is the 42-year-old bougainvillea tree, which not only creates a unique landscape but also plays a role in softening the existing building. From a close approach, inspired by Hawaiian nature based on the rich Vietnamese cultural background, Ola Hale was created from our dedication to a restaurant space filled with love and joy, a place for everyone.