John T. Unger Sculptural Firebowls + Art: firebowls and fire feature designs for hotels restaurants hospitality

14 posts from firebowls and fire feature designs for hotels restaurants hospitality

Fountain with Font O' Fire Firebowl at Glenn Hotel in Atlanta

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The Font O' Fire Sculptural Firebowl is aptly named as it has become the centerpiece of several fountains in top notch hospitality environments. Brian Sweeney created a Japanese inspired fountain for the Glenn Hotel in Downtown Atlanta using my 24" Font O' Fire firepit. The serrated top of the firebowl was added later.

The Glenn is an upscale boutique hotel that prides itself on treating guests like actual guests. This paragraph from their website makes the experience of staying at the Glenn sound pretty wonderful:

Upon entering the hotel, you are greeted with a welcome experience instead of a check-in process, a refreshing libation to delight you and a warm, scented towel to refresh you after your journey. Now imagine that you are offered the services of a Personal Host throughout your stay at our Downtown Atlanta hotel. Your needs are known, they are proactively tended to, and you are treated as if you are staying in the home of your very best friend.

The fountain design presents a nice balance of falling water with still water that reflects the tile and flame. The combination of fire and water elements is handled very nicely.

Photo courtesy Brian Sweeney of Sweeney Gardens

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Great Bowl O' Fire Firebowls at Waikiki Parc Hotel

Waikiki Parc Hotel has three Great Bowl O' Fire Firebowls decorating their pool deck facing the ocean. The firebowls are installed in a concrete bed filled with blue glass, which give the illusion they are floating in a pool. Many of my gas fired firebowls use glass inside to cover the burner, but I think the use of glass for landscaping is a really cool idea. It provides a beautiful field of color below the firebowls.

I need to get some larger, print quality images of this installation— If anyone plans to visit the Parc Hotel, please let me know if you can shoot a few photos while you're there!

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Waves O' Fire Firebowl at Onyx Nightclub in Columbus, OH

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The Waves O' Fire Sculptural Firebowl at Onyx was only one of the club's many outdoor amenities. I never had a chance to visit Onyx before its recent closure, but from all accounts I can find it was quite the operation!

An review of Onyx on Columbus Alive portrays Onyx as a venue with a wide variety of options:

Call it a club, a bar or a restaurant, but none of these descriptions nails the scope of Onyx, part of a 25,000-square-foot Upper Arlington entertainment complex.

An upscale club and lounge open on weekend nights, Onyx shares a spacious patio and heated outdoor bar with Arlington Cafe. Shahriar Kazemi opened Arlington Cafe as a simple neighborhood bar in 1992 and it's since grown to become a hub for sister businesses Cazzie's, Arlington Banquets and, as of last summer, Onyx.

Even on a chilly night, Onyx sometimes opens its sliding doors to a patio dotted with a fountain and outdoor fireplace. Heading outside towards Arlington Cafe reveals pool tables, video games, cushy booths and an arsenal of HD televisions.

The Waves O' Fire Sculptural Firebowl was used in winter months to warm the patio space, while the fountain cooled the air in summer.

One review on Yelp describes the variety of entertainments in some detail:

Many areas inside, four areas have their own bar. One of them is an open courtyard with a fountain, another had a live band and TVs all around, this area also has pool tables and a quiet patio area. A third had a great dance floor DJs, the forth seemed more for socializing with the couch and table area, the DJs here were not as loud so this would be great for conversations.

I'm glad I was able to get some photos of the Waves O' Fire in use while the nightclub was still in operation.

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Great Bowl O' Fire at Chef Bobo's Fire Grill Restaurant in St. Lucia

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The first thing you see as you approach Chef Bobo Bergstrom's Fire Grill Restaurant in St. Lucia, West Indies is the Great Bowl O' Fire Sculptural Firebowl he commissioned to extend the fire theme of his restaurant.

It looks fabulous and I put it on a pedestal as a dramatic eye catching road sign alternative. I have a restaurant with torches alongside the water and wanted to continue my trade mark. — Chef Bobo Bergstrom

Fire Grill SteakHouse and Lounge bar's culinary concept is a modern twist on “Food over Fire” with an emphasis on local ingredients combined with classic European techniques. The restaurant focuses on char-grilled beef, meats and seafood as well as slow cooked Texas style bbq prepared in a cast-iron smoker. The Grill also offers extra aged beef prepared to Chef Bobo's secret specifications.

Fire Grill is located in the middle of Rodney Bay Village, opposite Royal St.Lucian Hotel on the Reduit Beach Avenue.

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Font O Fire Firebowl as fountain centerpiece at BluEmber

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The plaza fountain at BluEmber Restaurant in Rancho Mirage, CA was one of the first to incorporate my firebowls. A Font O' Fire Sculptural Firebowl is the centerpiece of the multi-level masonry fountain. At night, the fire fountain provides lighting and ambiance, by day it provides a warm gathering place.

BluEmber features award-winning classic California cuisine with a contemporary spin as part of Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa.

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Waves O' Fire Firebowl on My Yard Goes Disney

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Usually the firebowls get to be on TV without me. I ship them to the set and only see the show much later. For the Surf's Up with the Greens episode of My Yard Goes Disney JayTV sent Rich Brauer out to the studio to film me making the firebowl.

For this episode, the HGTV design team creates a tropical theme for a surfing family inspired by Disney's Aulani Resort and Spa on the island of Oahu.Features of the landscape design include a pool and spray fountain, a custom backyard surf shop and tropical stump seating branded with the Hawaiin names for each family member.

The yard they transformed looks just awesome and the firebowl make a number of appearances through the show. The bit where I'm cutting the firebowl is about five minutes from the end of the show.

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Waves O Fire Firebowls at Grand Opening for Seaworld San Antonio's Aquatica Waterpark

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Seaworld San Antonio's new Aquatica Waterpark rented two of my Waves O' Fire Firebowls for their VIP Grand Opening. The firebowls are a temproray installation just for the Grand Opening, but there is a strong possibility that I'll be doing some custom stingray themed firebowls for the Aquatica later in the year.

The Waves O' Fire fire features are on display for the public Grand Opening, Saturday, May 19 through May 21st and I'm told there will also be fire dancers and performance of some kind. I hope to get some great photos and video of the event soon. If you're in San Antonio or nearby, stop in for the show!

Paul Carter, who arranged to feature the firebowls for the grand opening sent me the following email about how the firebowls were received:

Again, the Fire Pits are a perfect fit for Seaworld, San Antonio! They look great! They were amazing and the buzz around here is people want them for themselves!! You really do great work! The pits are absolutely amazing and fit very well with the park! When I get out of a apartment and into a house, I will be buying one of these for my backyard!

I'm totally planning a visit to Aquatica on my next trip to Texas because I want to see the Ke-Re Reef, where you can touch and feed Cownose and Southern stingrays— Seriously, how cool is that!

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Big Bowl O Zen at Nada Restaurant in Cincinnati

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On the drive down to SXSW this year we decided to take a few days extra and enjoy the trip, stopping to photograph some of the more awesome Firebowl installations that were (sort of) on the way.

The first stop was Nada, a stylish purveyor of "ingredient driven, contemporary Mexican cuisine." The reviews on Yelp led me to believe the food would be excellent, which proved to be more than true. The pork green chili burrito I had was one of the best Mexican meals I've ever eaten, and the Mexican mac 'n cheese also lived up to the hype. Everything from the ambience, to the service, to the food and drinks was superb.

After we ate, I shot some photos and talked to General Manager Allison K. Shaw and Assistant General Manager Chris Smith. They both expressed how much the restaurant and it's patrons enjoy the 41 inch Big Bowl O' Zen, which is lit every evening during the colder months. They told me that they remove the firebowl during summer to make room for more seating and that everyone on staff fights to be the one to take it home for the season.

I'll definitely have to return during the evening for dinner and some photos of the firebowl litup.

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One of the design touches I really liked was the seating around the Big Bowl O' Zen. The fence-post back rests on the larger benches really appeal to me. I also liked the carved wooden benches that look like they come from the roots of giant trees.

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Firewood for the Big Bowl O' Zen is stacked between urns at the front of the restaurant patio, creating a nice visual effect and defining the space.

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Heat lamps provide a little extra comfort. Because the restaurant faces a large open plaza, I suspect it gets a bit windy at times.

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The Lanterns in the trees were one of my favorite design elements of the patio area. Even though it was a cold day when we visited, the lanterns incandescent filaments added a nice touch of warmth.

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A shot from the plaza showing the front face of the restaurant and the firewood stacks for the Big Bowl O' Zen. The designer did a great job of combining modern architecture with rustic elements.

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Looking toward Sixth Street and the corner of the Contemporary Arts Center directly across the street.

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Closeup of the lamp filaments in the trees.

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Looking straight up into the tree lamps at a wintery March sky.

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Meridian Sculptural Firebowl at Allure Waikiki

Photo Credit: Eric Staudenmaier.
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The largest firebowl I've done to date is the 53 inch diameter Meridian Sculptural Firebowl installed on the 6th floor pool deck at Allure Waikiki. I absolutely love the above photo by Eric Staudenmaier and how it captures the glow of the fire on the teak deck. If Eric were based in Hawaii rather than LA, I'd absolutely hire him to shoot all of the other firebowls installed in hotels throughout the Hawaiin Islands!

This firebowl was quite a challenge to make, ship and have installed really— it weighs around 600 pounds and required a crane to put in place. Here's a video I shot before shipping it that shows the relative size of the 53 inch firebowl next to a standard 37 inch Meridian firebowl.

I also posted a video on my Facebook page that shows the crated firebowl being lifted into the freight truck with a bobcat. If you're into that kind of thing.

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Fire Features at Wichita Waterwalk

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Photo Credit: Chris Rush

This photo of the King Isosceles Firebowl at WaterWalk Place in Wichita is stunning! Chris did a great job of shooting a night photo that still gives a sense of the landscape around the firebowl.

WaterWalk Place is a multi-use destination on the banks of the Arkansas River in the heart of the city's cultural, entertainment, government and business center. Featuring upscale shops, luxury living and premium business sites. Seasonal activities within the development include outdoor concerts, art fairs, charity benefits and holiday celebrations. The Waterwalk Commons features fountains, greenbelts, walking paths and two of my Sculptural Firebowls.

The pictures by Vanessa below give a nice sense of how the King Isosceles fits into the larger landscape. It was very kind of Vanessa to forward her pictures and the one by Chris.

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Photo Credit: Vanessa Johnson

Waterwalk also has a Waves O' Fire Sculptural Firebowl installed, but I only have photos of the waves bowl taken during construction. If anyone in Wichita would be willing to send me updated photos of the Waves O' Fire, I'd be deeply grateful!