BRIEF
To create an elevated dining experience that celebrates the history of the building whilst ensuring the brand’s identity shines through. Certain brand staples (i.e the iconic blue bar) had to be considered yet enhanced from their previous sites. The client had certain operational requirements they wanted to achieve so we worked closely with them to achieve an environment that offers all day dining, drinking and private dining facilities in a creative way.
CONCEPT
The concept inspiration for the space derived from the building’s banking history, which inspired an interior concept around the goddess of fortune. Starting in the basement, the concept narrative is based on the flight of fortuna, where fortuna starts her journey within her realm (ladies toilets), uses the previous vault rooms to hide her fortune (private dining) and then flies to the ground floor to scatter her fortune around the banking hall. The space planning for the ground floor enables multiple different areas that each have a different feeling/ experience for guests to enjoy.
DESIGN
The project is a full fit out of a former banking hall and vault rooms built in 1862 comprising of two floors. The ground floor is now home to the main restaurant space, central bar and theatre kitchen, and the lower ground floor, where the former vault rooms were located, is home to a large private dining facility, entertainment spaces, wine cellars and bathroom spaces.
The ladies bathrooms were designed with a narrative around Fortuna’s layer, using the space to represent her realm where she keeps her most prize possessions. Materials used are opulent, unique and impactful yet feel soft, feminine and warm. A bespoke wallpaper was created by Studio Two that adorns every wall within the space, and celebrates fortune in the form of women’s bodies and ethnicities.
