Studio Found designs Honey & Co’s new deli and dining destination, teaming texture with rich terracottas.
Multi award-winning hospitality interior design practice, Studio Found, has unveiled its latest design collaboration with Honey & Co - a newly opened deli, bakery and café celebrating colour, taste and Middle Eastern delicacies.
Situated in the heart of London's Bloomsbury and acting as the sister site to Honey & Co. on Lamb’s Conduit Street - which Studio Found also designed and delivered last year - the new all-day dining and takeaway venue takes up the corner plot of Alfred Place and Store Street.
The new site seamlessly blends a deli and takeaway space at the front where Honey & Co’s hand crafted baked goods, salads and a selection of hot items are sold with a versatile café beyond. This warming and welcoming space provides an informal dining area for those who want a more leisurely hospitality experience. Away from the customer areas, downstairs there’s a fully-operational bakery that creates products for all of Honey & Co’s venues, as well as for an online delivery service.
Designed to complement the existing Honey & Co venues, the Store Street venue still very much has its own unique identity as a more relaxed and flexible space. The design had to deliver on functionality as a busy, multi-purpose venue, while also aesthetically reflecting the welcoming ambiance that Honey & Co venues are well known for. Sitting at the heart of the design is the celebration of the colour, taste and variety of Honey & Co’s delicious Middle Eastern food.
Studio Found’s design concept for Honey & Co. Daily was rooted in the fundamental principles of material integrity and meticulous attention to simple yet thoughtful details. This approach plays throughout both deli and dining spaces. creating an alluring and serene ambiance that enhances the overall experience for all customers, whether they’re taking away food or dining in.
The empty retail space - previously a Co-op store - provided a blank canvas for the design collaboration between Ed Plumb and his team at Studio Found and Honey & Co owners Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer. Through close cooperation it was ensured the design was operationally viable across all the different spaces for both customers and staff. Another key aspect to the brief was flexibility. For example, the space had to accommodate bakery trolleys travelling through the dining space to the deli counter at the front. In addition to this, display counters were designed on wheels so that they could be rotated in the evening to provide a high level seating area - or to organise a queuing system in the deli for the busier times.
The space had to be flexible for special events Itamar and Sarit will be hosting - such as supper clubs and holiday celebration feasts. A curtain can be pulled to divide off the dining space from the deli creating a more intimate event space. In the restaurant area low level cafe curtains act as a buffer between the busy street and dining space and help to distinguish this area from the more casual deli space.
From the outside the shopfront has retained its existing palettes of red granite and dark grey glazing frames while Studio Found selected a pale pink tone for the fascia to tie the exterior and interior colour palette together. Once inside, the space is bright and airy, with tactile materials and beautifully simple joinery pieces.
With a multitude of design functions to take into account, Studio Found developed a light and airy base palette of plaster render in two earthy clay tones an off-white and a pinky terracotta - adding both texture and tactility. It was upon this that carefully selected richer materials to enhance the space.
For the flooring a light stained oak timber runs throughout to maintain a connection between the different spaces - adding to the light base palette. Banquettes were upholstered in pale leather and simple linen was selected as a contrast to the more striking cushions, which add flashes of colour. Throughout the venue a combination of both rustic oak and walnut have been used to add a natural elegance to the spaces - the grains adding subtle organic shapes and surface qualities.
The earthly, rustic finishes extend to the choice of handmade terracotta tiles in two tones for the feature counter, while in contrast Rosso Marble for the bar top and white marble for the deli counter add a richer, more luxurious feel.
Keen to inject personality and a 'lived-in' feel, owner Itamar and Sarit selected some of Honey + Co's final touches, ranging from contemporary artworks and plants to ceramics handmade by Itamar and Sarit themselves. The food display units are loaded with colourful baked goods and salads, with the wooden bread shelves behind the deli counter exhibiting more bakery produce.
Studio Found’s director, Ed Plumb commented: “It’s great to work again with Itamar and Sarit who are just as passionate about design as they are their food! They really understand the importance of creating the right ambiance through considered design choices - from the layout and flow of the space to the choice of materials. Everything was carefully chosen to showcase and champion their beautifully crafted bakery and deli products - and to set their venue apart from other high street bakeries and delis across London.”
Imagery credited to Billy Bolton & Studio Found
