- Project name
- Old Compton Brasserie
- Project sector
- Hospitality
- Completion date
- 11/04/24
- Client
- Grapes Design
- Ranges
- Fornia, Program, Carnival, Glass Source
Award-winning Grapes Design recreates a fin de siècle vibe in the heart of Soho.
Soho, (aptly, a battlecry) is a special place, particularly for the queer community. Queer folk have gathered in Soho since the 1600s, according to Alim Kheraj, author of ‘Queer London: A Guide to the City’s LGBTQ+ Past and Present’. The area is widely (and more primly) described as an ‘entertainment district’ and many theatres, cinemas, bars, and restaurants operate.
In the 1920s, the proto-tabloid ‘John Bull’ described Soho as the home of “fornicators, prostitutes, and sodomites”; thankfully, such regressive attitudes are mostly behind us, yet Soho retains its counter-normative aura. Artists have long gravitated to the district: Rimbaud and Verlaine, Moraes, Hamnett, Freud, Bacon, Sartre, Wilde, have all baltered along these streets in various states.
Enter Old Compton Brasserie, a new hangout for the Bohemians on the main artery of queer Soho, Old Compton Street. It was on this street in 1999 that a neo-nazi bombed the Admiral Duncan pub in a hate crime that killed three, injured dozens, and did nothing to diminish the spirit and pride of this embattled community.
Grapes Design have immersed themselves in the history of Soho to give us a brasserie that references legendary local nightspots, the Cave of the Golden Calf, Madame JoJo’s, the Caravan Club, and all the so-called ‘dens of iniquity’ (aka queer safe spaces) that precede it. The brasserie describes itself as “A risqué, lively hotspot full of colourful characters ready to celebrate love and life” which aims to “cultivate the London art scene… To become a place where mouths and eyes can feast.”
Art is prominent throughout the design with Pop art murals, cubist paintings, and infinitely regressing light installations that recall the work of Kusama Yayoi. Exposed brick and timber are likely a nod the less salubrious forebears of this slum-chic eatery. Leather upholstered banquettes and chairs, marble table and bar tops, brass bar gantries, and a hanging mezzanine of black steel express a love of materiality and texture. A cluster of golden ball chandeliers illuminate mid bar area. A backlit feature wall and a neon nod to the ghosts of Soho past adorn the Frith and Dean Street ends respectively.
The use of geometric shapes, stylised curves, atmospheric lighting, luxury materials, bold colours, metallic finishes, and intricate mosaics are a maximalist fever dream of Soho through the ages.
CREDIT
- Interior Design
Grapes Design
- Tiling Contractor
Malcolm Charles Contracts
- Photography
Michael Franke
