Design studio Tutto Bene drew on “the sombre elegance of theatre and museum lobby cafes” when creating the interiors for the Nightingale restaurant in London.
The 60-square-metre space, which opens to a courtyard in London’s Mayfair neighbourhood, references Viennese coffee houses, known locally as Kaffeehäuser.
“We thought London is missing spaces with the atmosphere that we know Kaffeehäuser for,” Tutto Bene co-founder Oskar Kohnen told Dezeen.
Nightingale’s “stage-like” dining room was also informed by “the sombre elegance of theatre and museum lobby cafes”, Kohnen said.
“Nightingale’s sloped ceiling, abundant drops of fabric curtains, as well as the curtain-like wall panelling play on this idea,” he explained.
The restaurant has a colour palette that emphasises green and cream colours, with a floor made of cement tiles in various green hues.
Cream-coloured walls and curtains contrast against silvery details, with a monolithic stainless-steel bar functioning as the room’s centrepiece.
“The courtyard plant life suggested the green colour,” studio co-founder Felizia Berchtold told Dezeen.
“Based on this we added light and shadow through layers of black and white,” she added. “The surfaces interacting with the daylight create an abundance of hues in an overall calm tonality. It’s simple but dramatic.”
Mirrored, tiled columns add to the theatrical feel of the space, for which Berchtold also designed the sculptural Satellite Pendant, a spinning chandelier.
It was manufactured by the Austrian brand Kalmar, which has a history of designing lights for Viennese coffee houses, and features pleated cream lampshades that orbit around a steel axis.
“I initially drew the lamp during my travels in Japan last spring,” Berchtold said.
“It was inspired by paintings of sea roses and the craft of fan making, as well as ideas around motion and dance. We developed the design together throughout the year.”
Kalmar’s vintage glass scones decorate the mirrored glass columns, while Tutto Bene’s angular Sketch lamp sits on the wait station and its round Oblo lights can be found on the ridged walls.
The studio also worked with a variety of materials to give the space a tactile feel.
Nightingale features tables made from burl wood and stainless steel, which was also used for the bar and as a detail on the wait station, where it contrasts against swathes of cream cloth.
Tutto Bene’s Cafe Chair, made from stained wood and saddle leather, was used for seating along with wooden benches in the same style.
“The material palette balances crisp and formal materials such as steel and tiles with texture and playful warmth, resembled in the ever-changing drapes of fabric, the burl wood tables and saddle leather chairs,” Berchtold said.
Tutto Bene recently created a Streamline Moderne-informed New York store for eyewear brand Cubitts. Also in Mayfair, design studio Pirajean Lees designed an Arts-and-Crafts inspired restaurant called 20 Berkeley.
The photography is by Ludovic Balay.
Source: Rooms - dezeen.com
