RU

A four-story dining experience where stone, wood, and light create raw elegance.

Category
Year
2024
Location
Hyderabad
Category
COMMERCIAL
Year
2023
Location
mumbai, MAHARASHTRA

The Space

Rü in Hyderabad is a fine dining space designed to feel grounded and easy from the moment you walk in. The lobby sets the tone with checkered flooring and a staircase that draws you in. Warm wood, stone, cane, and soft lighting create dining areas that feel calm and inviting. The indoor rooftop with hand-knotted ropes adds texture and warmth. It’s a restaurant that doesn’t try too hard, but stays with you because of how it feels.

The Ask

TO design a 15,000 sq. ft., four-story restaurant in Banjara Hills that celebrated the site’s natural boulders and contours, using them as focal points to create a raw yet refined dining experience rooted in nature.

The Result

The result of the project was a striking four-story, 15,000 sq. ft. restaurant that feels seamlessly woven into its rocky terrain. The natural boulders and land contours became the highlights of the design, with features like a staircase wrapped around a massive rock and open ventilation that blurs indoors with outdoors. The use of earthy materials, moody lighting, and dramatic play of shadows created an intimate, raw, yet luxurious ambiance. RU emerged as more than a dining space—it became an immersive experience where nature and architecture coexist, offering guests a unique sense of place in the heart of Banjara Hills.

Through the interiors, furniture, fixtures, and other adornments, we created a space that felt quietly opulent and lived-in, creating the perception of being an age-old establishment and not a shiny, new office. The decor was our top priority and we invested a lot of hours to get the detailing just right. We focused on culture; installing art and stunning artefacts throughout the office. These finer elements truly brought the space together, and the result was a stately office space and a very happy client.

Testimonial

Swati

Partner

  • Working with Sarah Sham and Essajees Atelier has always been a joy, but our most ambitious collaboration to date was Rü. Built on a landscape almost entirely made up of massive boulders, it was a challenge that could shake up most people. Sarah, however, embraced it with confidence and creativity — retaining the rocks and designing a space around them that feels both rooted in Hyderabad’s culture and heritage, yet strikingly contemporary. The result, in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful bars in the city.
  • What makes Sarah truly stand out is not just her talent but her approach. She is warm, super friendly, and always tuned into her clients’ needs and budgets — never pushing ideas if there are concerns, especially around costs. The happy and inclusive culture she has built at Essajees Atelier makes every collaboration a pleasure. I look forward to working with her on many more projects in the future and wish her and her team success in everything they do.

Looking to elevate the aesthetic of your space?

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For all project inquiries, please email [email protected] with the subject NEW PROJECT.

© Essajees Atelier 2025. All Rights Reserved.

Designed by Independent Creators Collective and developed by Ideamagix.

© Essajees Atelier 2025. All Rights Reserved.

Designed by Independent Creators Collective and developed by Ideamagix.

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