Oatmeal Studio: IkHa

IkHa is a dining experience in The Hague, the Netherlands designed by Oatmeal Studio, where the concept of IKEA has been dismantled and translated into a restaurant interior. It's not a self-service restaurant in the usual sense of the word. Instead, visitors are invited to participate and customize their surroundings while dining.

While IKEA hacking — or creating spaces using the budget-savvy Swedish brand's products in new ways — is a popular trend, the designers say they wanted to extend this concept. IkHa is based on the showroom of IKEA itself. A maze of shelves and rooms to navigate, often multiple times as one reconsiders their choices, and then arrives home with their flat-packed goods to begin the assembly process. They also sell Swedish Meatballs.

Guests fill in their ordering forms with pencils and dinner is served on trays, delivered to the furniture construction at which they've chosen to sit. Visitors can create their table setting from a selection of materials and cut their own tablecloth or placemat from a selection of wallpapers, ready to measure and cut.