SevenRooms Best Bar Design Award 2026

Saikindō

Abu Dhabi

Hi-Fi bar oozing style in a sultry, sound-drenched space

Saikindō, the Japanese Hi-Fi bar within Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island, is conceived as a meticulously designed world where sound, craft and spatial theatre converge. Hidden behind the façade of a fashion atelier, the bar reinterprets the Japanese listening bar through a contemporary Abu Dhabi lens. Its design is shaped by contrast, melding disciplined geometry with sinuous detail, acoustic precision and tactile warmth, nostalgia and modern hospitality. Above all the highfalutin design principles, however, Saikindō oozes sex appeal and style in it's sultry, sound-drenched space.

Guests enter via The Atelier, a crafted shopfront where clothes and accessories emblazoned with bespoke embroidery nod to Japanese 1980s pop culture and Bōsōzoku biker mythology. A concealed corridor behind doors that swish open like a spaceship reveal a tunnel with modular backlit patterns inspired by vintage speaker silhouettes and Japan's Metabolist movement.

In the main lounge, Saikindō's identity as a space shaped by sound becomes more obvious. Speaker-inspired forms are integrated into joinery, ceilings and sculptural elements, while timber, textiles, rhythmic tiles and velvet upholstery create a richly sensory interior. The room is designed to feel like a living instrument, with a concealed L-Acoustics system embedded into the architecture so that sound becomes part of the spatial design.

Every element of the bar is custom made to suit the venue's operational rhythm, from the precise height of the station and the spacing between counter and work zone to the internal layout and serving area. A flush counter places guest and bartender on a shared eye level, streamlined profiles reduce reach and strain, while foot-operated service doors leave bartenders' hands to shake stir seamlessly when on show. Unsurprisingly, the DJ station sits at the centre of it all.

Lighting ties these diverse realms together via vinyl-inspired fixtures, glowing corridor patterns and skewer-like hanging installations.

What distinguishes Saikindō is the way design, sound and service are resolved as one system. Materials, acoustics, spatial flow and operational detail aren't treated separately – they're composed into a single orchestra where the bar functions as instrument, stage and gathering place.

The result is an editorially rich hospitality interior that has earned the bar the SevenRooms Best Bar Design Award as part of The 50 Best Bars 2026.

Contact