Claudio Silvestrin’s interior architecture: elegant simplicity imbued with warm and powerful, natural materials. A perfectly serene space in which the experience of dining becomes a unique journey: the feeling of being on top of the world, yet clearly grounded by the interior architecture.
The design intends to give customers the feeling of being in a soulful, warm, earthy space yet suspend on the 32nd floor of the Shard. The emotional qualities of the nourishing, life-giving elements that evolve from water, fire and earth are beautifully composed in pure, clear, decisive geometric forms, thus bonding the abstract space configuration with the physical nature of materials, particularly the stone strength and endurance.
The natural materials that have been selected – raw, brownish, yellowish and reddish sand stone and porphyry for floor, walls and counters, copper and bronze liquid metal, marmorino, tan leather upholstery and ebony wood, provide the restaurant with a distinguished image of solidity, permanence and timeless luxury, intensified by refectory-like stone tables, stone jars and stone totems.
The restaurant space of 920 m² is divided into two areas: the 203 m² formal dining and the 243 m² lounge and bar, united by a long stretching spine where a desk-less reception is located. This tunnel has, intentionally, a cave-like perspective with a specific soft light installation of pure atmosphere, leading, by contrast, into the restaurant zones bathed in light and with a dramatic view over London.
In a creative reversal, Claudio Silvestrin’s revolutionary idea allows customers to enter the composed dining space through the kitchen, experiencing the colours, sounds and aromas of the cooking space, before being seated. The design thus enhances the sensuality of the dining experience.
