Client: Aqua Restaurant Group
Design: Jestico + Whiles
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Size: 1,200 sq m
Keeping watch over the London skyline, the new restaurant at Aqua Shard, designed by Jesctico + Whiles, sits on the 31st level of Europe’s tallest building.
The Gin Wing features a magenta shot silk wall
While the panoramic views are unsurpassed, they actually created a challenge for Jestico + Whiles: ‘We were aware of the risk of obstructing the views if the space was overdesigned; if the design was too simple, the emphasis would be solely on the skyline,’ says Emma Richardson, interior design director at Jestico + Whiles.
So the floor-to-ceiling windows remain undressed, while the design of the space is detailed so that it enhances the spectacular views: no matter where guests are seated there are panoramic views of London.
The design team took inspiration from Southwark’s colourful history of gin distilling and tea importation, at its height in the area in the 18th century. ‘We felt it was important to reflect the location in Southwark by the Thames that brought in the tea clippers and cargo boats loaded with the ingredients for gin making. It was, and still is, a vibrant part of London. The two trades of gin making and tea importing were such an important part of Southwark life it was natural for us to incorporate these into our design and reflect their role,’ says Richardson.
Private dining spaces are lit with bespoke chandeliers
Inside Aqua Shard, just a few hundred yards from the Hay’s Wharf clipper dock which still stands as a very physical reminder of the past era, the restaurant space has two distinct areas with their own personalities: the Tea Wing and the Gin Wing flank a soaring three-storey atrium that contains the bar – where tea and gin-inspired cocktails are a speciality, naturally.
In the atrium lounge, full-height bespoke mirrored screens, reminiscent of Georgian-era privacy screens, reflect the views back into the space. Mirror also figures very strongly in the bar itself, over which sits a recessed canopy of bevelled-edge mirror. Black marble sits on top of the stainless steel and bronze bar, while open bronze and marble drinks shelves frame the views whichever direction they are looked through. Bar stools and lounge chairs, custom-designed by Jestico + Whiles and upholstered in Designers Guild fabrics, sit at the bar and in the lounge area.
Moving through into the Tea Wing, three fully glazed private dining spaces are to be found, each lit with a unique chandelier designed by Jestico + Whiles and made by Tom Kirk. Other diners are accommodated on a single 5m-long banquette, upholstered in Grey Ianthe Print Linen Union from the Liberty art print collection. A feature wall behind the long banquette has a dark timber tea cabinet, dressed with vintage tea tins set into occasional lit niches.
Every diner has a spectacular view
An elegant and subtle palette of sepia tones, dark wood and parquet flooring are used here, all adding to the sophisticated ambience.
Go the other way from the atrium and you’ll enter the Gin Wing, where rich and vibrant colours reference the ingredients used to make gin.
Here two rows of freestanding semi-circular banquettes, sitting in rosewood frames and upholstered in Liberty Hebe Print in turquoise and blue, and blue and white, lead the eye to the wing’s own feature wall of magenta-coloured shot silk. In front of this sits a collection of bell jars containing vibrantly coloured butterflies, themselves referencing the organic colours of gin ingredients. The same dark wood flooring is continued throughout the space.
The atrium bar’s canopy recess is mirrored Photo credit: Richard Southall
In addition to the bespoke Tom Kirk chandeliers, lighting at Aqua Shard includes vintage bronze lamps, selected by the client, restaurateur David Yeo, which stand on the atrium bar, complementing the bar’s metal finishes.
Elsewhere the lighting is low-key so that at night it feels as though the space might be lit by candle light, complementing the dark and sensual ambience that is set by the design and the choice of materials and surfaces.
‘Gin and tea are products that have been adopted and integrated into British culture and reflect London’s continuing ability to blend new and indigenous influences to create something new,’ says Richardson. Each wing of Aqua references this: tea represents culture and luxury while gin is redolent of pleasure and hedonism. Our choice of materials and finishes is intended to reflect this contrast, while also bringing the two together to complement the restaurant’s unique blend of cuisine and style.’
Words by Emily Black
Main suppliers
Textiles:
Tiles:
Furniture:
Bespoke furniture made by Decca Furniture
Dark timber panelling:
Bar cladding:
Bespoke lighting:
Antique Grigio mirror:
