This was the complete fit-out of a basic ‘shell & core’ retail space in Spitalfields, London E1. Brief was to create a modern streamlined environment with strong graphic elements on a very tight budget. As an Italian fast food & takeaway, all surfaces had to be hardwearing with easy maintenance. Internal area including new kitchen is 150m2 (1,600ft2) and maximum seating covers of 60 were achieved.

The interior is pretty much a distillation of the features we produced for the previous ‘Mangiare’ we designed. Very simple lines with the simple graphic yellow and dark grey Formica cladding contrasted with white Carrara marble counter tops, bare blockwork walls painted cream and oversized black & white photographic posters.

A decorative screen of oak and grey/yellow Formica incorporating sliding blackboard menus runs full width behind the counters – helping to exaggerate the size of the space as well as provide a visually stimulating backdrop for queuing customers.

We had generous ceiling heights and decided to keep new services exposed to maintain this as well as save the costs of providing a suspended ceiling. The kitchen and staff serving areas were raised in order to overcome some awkward drainage positions and create the maximum width of counters for pizza and pasta display and tills etc.

We were also responsible for the design and implementation of the signage  and graphics including the shopfront.