The vibrant feel of New York's best bars and restaurants meets simple but high quality French brasserie fare in a classic and elegant new restaurant project called St Germain in London's Farringdon district.
The restaurant, owned and operated by ex-Will Ricker Restaurants director Neil Walkington, has been designed by Blacksheep, designers of hit London nightclub The Cuckoo Club ('Best Club' winner at the 12th London Club and Bar Awards this year), as well as the funky flagship store for cult Italian fashion label Voyage and the UK HQ of luxury brand Hermès. The brief to the designers was to create an understated, simple and classic interior where the food and drink offer takes centre stage. As well as working on the interiors concept, Blacksheep also designed the external branding and signage for the scheme, as well as a full graphics package, including stationery, menus and matchboxes.
St Germain is located at 89-90 Turnmill Street, London EC1 (directly alongside Farringdon Station) and is set within a former mid 19th century printworks, with an attractive period façade and a generously-proportioned bar and restaurant space (including a 4.5m high ceiling). Changes made to the external façade of this classic three-storey building, categorised as a 'building of historical interest' (not listed, but sited within a conservation area) include a newly-cleaned façade, awnings over the three windows and larger windows, replacing existing sills, as well as new signage, lighting and menu boxes.
The striking new, light-filled, geometric and monochrome interior concept plays off classic Parisian brasserie elements with subtle, contemporary twists and surprises, aiming to create the friendly, laid-back feel of New York's finest bars and restaurants, where the interior communicates an instant sense of ease and relaxation. The bar and restaurant are arranged in an L-shaped plan on the ground floor of the building, with back-of-house, toilets and kitchen on the lower-ground. Diners are met at a greeter station and shown either to the bar or restaurant area (they can eat at both). Food is offer continuously throughout the day from morning to midnight, based on a brunch and dinner menu, with a bar menu also available continuously. Chef Stephen Collins has the perfect pedigree for St Germain's mix of New York style and French brasserie food, having previously worked as the head chef of both Quaglino's and the Atlantic Bar and Grill.
The ground floor bar and restaurant area is a naturally dramatic double-height, light-filled space (with large windows both at the street and rear side opposite). Certain of its authentic, original and honest materials and finishes have been kept, from the cast iron supporting pillars to bare brick walls (enhanced and made more contemporary by being sprayed in matt cream paint). Blacksheep's interior concept adds layers of feature interest to this strong space, from textured, black and white vertically-striped paper for the wall opposite the bar, to huge-scale backlit angled mirrors to encourage restaurant activity at both ends of the dining area.
The bar area is delineated from the restaurant area through different flooring treatments (black and white patterned ceramic tiles) and more informal seating and tables, including bar stools and banquette seating. The restaurant features booth seating, as well as a central sleigh-banquette, overlit by large-scale anglepoise lamps in the dining area, to massive overhanging reclaimed pendant lights (originally from an east end office showroom), which have been reconditioned and sprayed black, with pulleys to vary their height at will.
Neil Walkington commented on the final design: 'I am extremely happy with the overall aesthetics of the restaurant and the graphics. Blacksheep have done a fantastic job of tying all of the different elements together to produce a really tight look. The black and white contrasts throughout the building are my favourite aspect of the entire design! We are very happy with the end product and this has been reflected by the many compliments from the guests.'
Photography: Edmund Sumner
Blacksheep
Blacksheep was formed in 2002 by husband and wife team Tim Mutton and Jo Sampson, after many years' experience at some of the UK's leading design agencies, from Conran Design Group to Imagination and United Designers, working on some of London's best-known bars, restaurants and hotels. The award-winning Clerkenwell-based agency works in leisure, retail, workplace and residential design, on projects ranging from The Cuckoo Club and the Voyage flagship store, to offices for luxury brand Hermès and residential projects, including a Grazia magazine-featured project, which won director Jo Sampson 2006's Kitchen Designer of the Year award.
Blacksheep: https://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/8509