The challenge
Evolving the Edo Japan brand required an architectural roadmap that prioritized customer experience without sacrificing speed. The goal was to move away from a traditional aesthetic toward a more energetic environment — one that appealed to a younger demographic by turning fresh meal preparation into a visual destination.

The Solution
The design centered on a Teppan-style stage, moving the grill to the front of the house so customers watch their food being prepared. This made the "Master of the Grill" the central focal point — transforming the space into an experience of trust and entertainment that resonates with a social-media-savvy generation.

To support the rollout, a modular design system was developed to ensure brand consistency across four distinct layouts — Side Grill, Front-Facing Grill, No Grill, and Food Court — adapting to the range of footprints and service models found nationwide.

Location

Multi-site, North America

Rodmell & Company Inc.

ColLab.

Quick-Service Restaurant

● 02

Edo Japan

Playful . Confident . Respectful

Mall Applications

The challenge lay in maintaining brand integrity while navigating the rigid constraints of a mall food court environment. By adaptively scaling our signature elements—like the high-visibility overhead branding and vibrant red architectural accents—we engineered a high-impact, front-facing grill layout that maximizes spatial efficiency, complies with strict landlord criteria, and preserves the theatricality of the Teppan-style dining experience.

ONE STRATEGY, THREE LAYOUTS
Grill Configurations

The strategy started with one move: bring the grill to the front. Watching the food being cooked builds trust and turns a quick meal into an experience — the sizzle becomes the show. But no two sites are the same. The shape of each space and the position of its entry point dictates how the kitchen can be laid out, and not every location could put the grill up front. That constraint produced three configurations — forward facing, side facing, and rear facing — each named for the only orientation its footprint would allow. Two sites could open the grill to the customer. One couldn't. Same brand experience, designed three ways.

Forward Facing Grill

The ideal: the grill sits open to the customer the moment they walk in, putting the cooking on full display.

Side Facing Grill

Where a forward grill wasn't possible, it turns to the side, keeping the cooking visible while working with the room's entry and flow.

Rear Facing Grill

On sites whose shape or access point ruled out a front grill entirely, the kitchen sits back, prioritizing operations where the footprint left no other choice.

Selected Pages
Design Intent — Elevations & Details

Measured elevations and detail drawings for the entire store, with full callouts for dimensions, materials, paint, and finishes. Every custom element was drawn and specified so fabrication matched the design exactly, and the result stayed consistent from one location to the next. These are a few selected pages from a much larger document.

SELECTED ELEMENTS
Kit of Parts

A complete design intent was developed for EDO Japan's flagship store, then documented as a kit of parts covering every custom-built element in the space — grill configurations, millwork, signage, wayfinding, and finishes. It turns a one-off flagship into a repeatable system, so every location across Canada is built to the same brand standard. Below are a few of those elements.

Point-of-Purchase Merchandiser

Teriyaki Sauce Merchandiser

EDO's bottled teriyaki — a genuine cult favourite — used to sit on a shelf out in the store, easy to walk past. We moved it to the highest-converting spot in the room: built directly into the counter face at the point of purchase, in the customer's eyeline at the exact moment they're craving it. The angled display keeps every facing forward and shoppable, and the branded "Sauce It Up At Home" fascia turns an impulse buy into a brand moment.

Grab & Go

Online Order Pick-Up Station

A dedicated pickup point for online and delivery orders, sorted alphabetically by last name for fast self-serve collection. Placed and signed to be seen from the entrance, it lets couriers and customers grab their order and go — keeping online pickups out of the main service line, which is one of the most common space and flow problems in quick-service retail.

Self-Serve Beverage Station

Japanese Style Drink Station

A self-serve beverage station styled after a Japanese street cart (yatai), bringing a piece of EDO's culinary heritage into the dining room. The corrugated canopy and spoked wheel give it real street-cart character, but every detail earns its place — the wheel is raised and inset to clear the underside for cleaning and keep it out of a passing guest's path.

Custom Door Hardware

Chopstick Door Handle

A custom stainless-steel door pull drawn from the most familiar object in the cuisine — the chopstick — scaled up into architectural hardware. The brushed finish reads clean and premium, while a single red wrap near the top carries the Japanese word oishii (おいしい) — "delicious." It turns the first physical touchpoint of the visit into a quiet brand cue, setting the tone before a customer is even through the door.

Interior Open Sign

Hanging "OPEN" Sign

A double-sided hanging blade sign that signals the space is live and serving. The rising steam graphic above the word does the work — it reads as heat, freshness, and food being cooked right now, tying back to the grill-forward strategy at the heart of the store. Suspended and visible from either direction, it's a small fixture doing a clear job: telling people, at a glance, that the kitchen is on

Exterior Projecting Sign

Projecting Roundel Sign

An illuminated double-sided roundel that projects from the storefront to catch foot traffic from both directions. It carries the "Masters of the Grill" wordmark and the brand's 1979 heritage date, lit so it holds up after dark and reads clearly from a distance. Mounted on a short wall arm, it pulls the brand off the flat of the façade and into the sightline of anyone approaching, marking the entrance before the storefront comes into view.

Final Results

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