Tom and Shelley were excited to travel to Columbia to accept a Merit Award from the Mid-Missouri chapter of the American Institute of Architects for the design of LeBao Asian Eatery. LeBao’s owner Jina Yoo joined them for the ceremony and celebratory bao and ramen afterwards.

The jury noted:

[LeBao is an] outstanding re-use of an existing building and use of materials to create an exciting restaurant environment. It was a handsome solution with beautiful drawings…playful interior volumes and geometries, well-detailed, and a restricted palette of materials.

We are grateful for owner Jina Yoo, Huebert Builders of Columbia, and our team of meticulous craftsmen for — among other things — setting all 1,440 pieces of wood in 4 x 4 templates that were ultimately hung on the curvaceous ceiling.