A dilapidated listed Georgian town house is reborn as an elegant and welcoming Coffee House, Restaurant and meeting facility.
The project started with a shell of a building that was in a sorry state desperate for a sympathetic and extensive refurbishment. The brief was huge evolving and adapting as the work progressed.
Understanding the use of the space was fundamental to getting the layout and flow of the building working. The space was to be laid across three floors and was to have clearly defined functions. An empathetic solution orientated design approach was adopted to meet the listed building status and commercial restaurant requirements.
The business was to include a coffee shop, niche retail space, snug and courtyard garden on the ground floor, with a slightly more formal restaurant on the first floor and a private dining room on the second floor. The layout needed to allow the optimum flow of customers and staff around the building and was crucial to the success of the project.
The ambience was designed to be welcoming and relaxing, with comfortable furniture and attention to detail in the finishes.
Getting the paint colours to reflect the brief was a high priority for my client. Nothing I like more than to be developing a palette of saturated hues, pouring over paint charts in search of the perfect colour for a space both inside and outside.
The outside of this building was a challenge as the colours changed so dramatically in the light and in contrast to the surrounding environment. But after a just a few samples the front and rear external colours were selected, the front a more formal and anticipated shade for a Georgian town house, the rear was more unexpected picking up in the mix of colours in the slate hung elevation of the courtyard garden whilst echoing the warm hues of the interior spaces.
Glorious warm and earthy tones are prevalent internally, so warm they almost glow. Complimented by crisp white woodwork, smart dark cabinetry and stunning stone worktops.
The floor coverings give high visual impact with Original Style encaustic tiles for the entrance and downstairs areas and a fabulously quirky bespoke Axminister carpet to the upper floors. The carpet is a conversation piece containing motifs that are local and project relevant.
A contemporary lighting scheme shakes up the interior with stunning feature pendants, elegant wall lights and a versatile track and pendant system.
Furniture was selected and adapted to suit the scheme, with sumptuous upholstered chairs and built in seating upstairs and more classic bistro style to the lower floor. Whilst an antique dining table was installed in the private dining room.
Local antique shops and second-hand stores were scoured for individual and quirky items from artwork to artefacts for the finishing touches which give this space its individual identity.
Secret Ingredients:
Axminster Carpets for bespoke wool flooring.
Original Style for flooring tiles
Andy Thornton for commercial seating and tables
Amos Lighting for lighting
Tala Valley Upholstery for bespoke built in seating
Paints on this project were colour driven so they came from various sources Dulux Trade, Farrow and Ball and The Little Greene Paint Company.
Wallpaper by Sanderson available from Merchants and Makers.