Restaurant Project

The Brief Brief 

To create a name, logo and brand for a new Italian restaurant in London's Soho.  Design the Interior restaurant and bar areas, as well as the Ladies and Gents toilets.  Incorporate a larger kitchen, taking into consideration the storage, space and flow of kitchen and waiting staff. Include a shower and changing room for staff, which includes lockers for personal belongings.  Allocate a space for a small office for the manager and Head Chef to share.

Design the seating layout of the outdoor area, including a smoking area and cover to protect clients from bad weather.  The planting areas are to be low maintenance as no gardener will be appointed.

Existing space to be changed

This is the plan view of the existing restaurant space - approximately 36 covers

Newly Designed Restaurant Plan

Newly Designed Restaurant Plan - 104 covers

Display Boards

The inspiration for the Restaurant design came from its location, London's trendy Soho and the desire to clarify its Italian origins in a contemporary way. Shows photographs of Soho at night, including images downloaded from the internet.  Photoshop image of the of the new Restaurant frontage.

The bar is curved and clad with hexagonal stainless steal mosaic tiles.  The top of the bar is Black Galaxy Granite.  There is no seating at the bar.  There are bar tables and stools around the front of the bar.  Above the bar is a suspended sculpture made up of interlinked foam filled felt tiles.  The structure is breathtaking and its practical use is sound absorption.

Samples of the materials and finishes used for walls and floors.  Image of the White High Gloss chairs with red faux leather seat pad sample.  Sample of the Black Galaxy Granite table tops.   Photoshop image of one wall layout including bespoke fold away room dividers between each table and coloured glass wall lights.

The garden space is now visible from the main restaurant.  The sliding wood framed doors can be kept open in full during the warmer months or opened as a single door for access.  The stone cladding offers a new contemporary texture to the inside of the restaurant while also leading you to the natural textures of the garden.  The plants are mostly hardwearing Italian herbs, that should survive the winter, helped by the protection of the high walls all around.  The fountains will help to fuse with the scent from the herbs to create a peaceful atmosphere, while also drowning out some of the street noise.  The spiral staircase leads to the managerial office above the washrooms.

This board shows the different table runner fabrics for lunch and dinner respectively, as well as the different table settings.  In the centre is the graphic painted stainless steal dinner menu and condiment containers.  The hand drawn uniforms for male and female waiting staff are complimentary to the scheme of the restaurant.

The Ladies and Gents washrooms can be seen in the AutoCAD plan (2nd image).  The new washrooms are contemporary and practical in their design.  The coloured glass adds a vibrancy to an otherwise clean and clinical look.

Design Summary 

Contemporary sharp design with references to Italy, but not in the traditional manner.

The new restaurant has 62 covers indoors and 22 covers outdoors, plus 8 extra stools for smokers.  The seating areas are made up 9 two seater tables, 7 four seater tables and 4 four to six seater booths internally.  Externally there are 4 two seater tables and 3 four seater tables.  There is an additional 20 covers at the bar.  There are now 104 covers in the restaurant.

The kitchen has been relocated and increased in size from 5800 x 3200 to 7430 x 3650, giving an extra 8.5m2.  The additional dry storage room is now accessible from the kitchen.  Deliveries to the kitchen can be made through the garden area without having to go through the restaurant.  There is a designated serving area for waiting staff to collect orders without having to go into the kitchen.  The washing up area is located as close to the kitchen entrance as possible so that the waiting staff do not need to cross the kitchen to return used plates.  There is now a separate entrance and exit door to the kitchen to avoid possible collisions between staff.  The entrance to the bar is directly opposite the kitchen doors so that staff can cross form one area to the other without having to cross the restaurant.  

The new bar is closer to the entrance of the restaurant so that fewer diners are disturbed by patrons crossing over to the bar.  The coffee machine is located near the entrance and exit to the bar to avoid staff having to carry hot drinks the full length of the bar.  There is a small counter display fridge for the patisseries and panini  in the centre of the front bar.  Fridges are located under the back bar for drinks storage.  There is a silent bottle crusher under the bar, which halves the volume of glass waste.   

The toilets have also been relocated which have allowed for the kitchen expansion.  The accessible toilet meets government standards and safety regulations.

The garden is viable and accessible from the main restaurant area via 2 folding french windows.  The garden seating area is covered by a wooden frame structure with sliding roof and roll down clear PVC walls to protect dinners from rain and cold weather.  There are also external heaters to add to customer comfort in winter and cold evenings.  The small office is accessible via a spiral staircase located in the garden.  

The seating in the main restaurant is laid out to provide as much privacy for diners as possible.  There are pull out screens between each table on the side wall to increase privacy, particularly for business meetings.  There is a low wall between some tables that are located adjacent to each other.  The booth seats have hight backs and all face a slightly different direction so that each individual party is not looking directly at one another.  Some tables can be pushed together to make space for larger parties of 6 or 8.

There is an EPOS system which allows waiting staff to send orders directly to the kitchen or bar.  Using this electronic system means that staff are not required to walk back and forth to the kitchen or bar as much, reducing the amount of movement in the restaurant.  

There are different table settings for lunch and dinner to observe the change of menu and atmosphere.  The waiting staff have smart uniforms that compliment the contemporary décor.