On the 31st level of The Shard is the Aqua Restaurant Group’s new 220-cover eatery. Working together with the restaurant’s founder and creative director David Yeo, the architects designed the interior inspired by the themes of tea and gin.
Split into two main spaces linked by a large atrium, aqua shard’s larger wing takes on the tea theme. Evoking references to the tea trade of the East India Company, dark green and brown leather is featured along a a dark oak floor with black marble insets. Fully glazed private dining rooms offer views over London from every seating position.
The gin wing offers a more relaxed setting, which sees the continuation of the black marble and dark oak flooring. Opaque folding screens and a metal framework, underlit bar recalls the smoky atmosphere of the gin distillery, further enhanced by a colour palette that changes from a delicate green tint to a saturated purple. Peacock motifs decorate the windows while semi-circular banquettes evoke the best of British art-nouveau textile design.
