PRINCESS GARDEN OF MAYFAIR

Year: 2003
Contract value: £ 700,000

Before our remodelling, the premises of this well-established, upmarket Chinese restaurant in Mayfair were looking dated and in need of a new, more open and lively image.

Toward the end of 2001, the Client decided to ask Belsize Architects, with whom the owners have a long relationship, to remodel the mezzanine level, as a trial.
This was partly to keep the business open during this first phase, and partly to establish whether the regular clientele would appreciate a new design concept.

The test proved to be very successful and the Client decided to proceed with the remodelling of all other areas at ground floor. The second phase of the work was completed in early 2003.

The restaurant occupies the corner of a 6-storey mansion block and benefits from eight large windows facing the street. Its interior is articulated into three main sections:
1. the entrance, lounge & bar areas forming a single space with a stairway serving the function rooms on the floor below;
2. the main dining area connected to the former areas by a corridor with display walls;
3. the mezzanine level to the rear, eight steps higher, enlivened by natural light through a large rooflight.
The spatial layout is a “U” shape organized around a separate, unrelated entrance hall serving the flats above.

In the previous conversion, many of the windows had been blocked off. The new design re-instated the openings and, by moving the suspended ceiling away from the perimeter, allowed full height windows and more light into the interior. To the rear, a large roof-light was re-formed at mezzanine level, in an area that can become a self-contained space for private dining.

The concept underlying the intervention identified the main appeal of the restaurant as deriving from the combination of fine dining and appreciation of the antique Chinese artefacts on display. The design has been inspired by the ambition to entwine together these two threads and integrate the Chinese antiques within a bold contemporary design.