Interiors studio North End Design has filled the playful Town restaurant in Covent Garden, London, with curved volcanic ceramic pillars, chrome accents and space-age-style forms to create an interior with “modern glamour”.
Located on Drury Lane in London‘s West End area, Town serves “ingredient-first” food by chef Stevie Parle.
For its interior, designer Samuel Hosker, founder of North End Design, placed the kitchen at the centre, flanked by glossy red ceramic pillars.
It’s the “stage of the theatre,” Hosker said.
“The activity of the smoke from the grill, the movement from the pass – watching Stevie orchestrate from this central point is fascinating,” he told Dezeen. “You really see the heart of the operation.”
“Additionally the space, pragmatically, lead the team in this direction,” he added. “We had an open room, within a clean structural grid. From the beginning of the plan development last May, the structural columns always wanted to frame the focal point of the room.”
The studio was given a brief that gave it a “clear direction” and used artificial intelligence (AI) and research to create the right atmosphere.
“The client briefing document had the Apple logo from 1977, a Verner Panton interior and a picture of a Soviet train,” Hosker said.
“We had so much fun diving into British brutalism,” he added. “In addition, we looked at designers like Marc Newson, Pierre Cardin and Willy Rizzo. It was also the first time we delved into the creative force of AI – looking at how The Jetsons could meet a Pierre Cardin interior.”
The colour palette is one of the most striking aspects of Town’s interior, which features deeply saturated reds and greens illuminated by overhead lightboxes.
“As mentioned earlier, the Apple logo from 1977 was on the original briefing deck alongside colourful Soviet-era public spaces like trains, both of which excited the team – we loved the freedom to use colour,” Hosker explained.
He also drew on interior designs from the seventies, an influence that comes through clearly in the final design.
“Many restaurants over the past 15 years are a bit too serious, so to get the chance to have fun and to create a playful interior was so refreshing,” he said.
“We loved exploring late 1970s interiors – one of our favourites was the Rainbow room at Big Biba in Kensington. It’s like a set from an early Grace Coddington shoot.”
The client also wanted the interior to feature curved ceramics, leading Hosker to work with volcanic lava stone brand Pyrolave UK.
The company created the curved volcanic ceramic columns, as well as the green kitchen pass and lemon-yellow group table.
“The other materials wanted to be calmer against the bright yellow, green and red of the pyrolave,” Hosker said. “The crisp, cold chrome accents are used in several areas that have helped bounce light around the space and add a twinkle.”
Among Town’s space age-informed features is the ceiling, which features square lightboxes with rounded corners. The lighting was an important aspect of the design and influenced the restuarant’s material choice.
“All materials are always considered when thinking about light – both natural and candlelit evenings,” Hosker explained.
“We feel the materials in the space work really well in the daytime, creating a bright and airy space to dine in, where the evening turns into a chic club feel as we close the aluminium blinds that are lit from the top and bottom of the window frame.”
Town, which opened this month, was ultimately designed to be a laid-back space for dining in central London.
“We’ve heard lots of great feedback from guests – a modern glamour has been my favourite,” Hosker concluded. “Like Stevie and his menu design, the restaurant is laid back but with a relaxed refinement and quality.”
Other recent restaurant interiors include a Sydney eatery punctuated with “grotto-like” niches and a “more emotionally engaging” McDonald’s.
The photography is by North End Design.
The post North End Design draws on Apple logo and Verner Panton designs for colourful Town restaurant appeared first on Dezeen.
