Designed by Lovers Unite, the Los Angeles design and architecture studio of Karen Spector and Alan Koch, Lielle is a Scandinavian-inspired restaurant featuring ORCA Brick Clay Tiles.
View Brick Clay Paver
"We want people to feel held. It’s intimate without being precious. Earthy but elevated. A place where you can settle in, connect, and feel both comforted and inspired.
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On the design:
Lielle was conceived as an intimate, elemental space—something that feels both grounded and transportive. We were interested in creating a restaurant that holds an emotional resonance, where material, light, and proportion work together to shape an atmosphere that is at once refined and deeply human.
The concept draws from a sense of earth and memory—spaces that feel discovered rather than designed. We wanted it to feel like it had always been there: tactile, warm, and imperfect, with a kind of softness that invites lingering. The architecture is restrained but intentional, allowing the materials to carry narrative and depth.
"We were interested in how the tile could operate simultaneously as finish and as architecture—something that feels integral to the space rather than applied."
On material selection:
We were immediately drawn to the ORCA Brick Clay Tile in Rust for its relationship to the body. Brick is a material that is inherently scaled to the hand—it carries this archaic, almost primal connection to how we build and touch space. Bringing that human scale into the design was very important to us.
The tile functions almost like a field condition, a rhythm and accumulation. We leaned into its linearity and weight, allowing the installation to emphasize continuity and subtle tonal variation.
Because each piece carries slight differences, the surface reads as textured and layered rather than flat. It creates a movement across the walls, catching light in nuanced ways throughout the day.
Photos by Kort Havens
