Bespoke interiors specialist, Heterarchy, has created a pop-up restaurant for Michelin-starred chef, Adam Stokes, in Birmingham city centre.
The 70sqm, 25-cover restaurant is the first venture for Adam Stokes since leaving his post as head chef at Glenapp Castle in Scotland. Adam’s is a contemporary fine dining restaurant, serving up a sophisticated blend of familiar flavour combinations with modern, inventive twists.
This site is a stepping stone prior to opening a larger 60-seat restaurant, hence the term pop-up – though don’t be fooled into thinking this in any way looks and feels temporary or transient; this is a fine dining restaurant in the truest sense of the word.
Due to run for only 18 months, the restaurant had to be completed within a tight budget and short timescale – a challenge the design team was happy to take on.
Tony Matters at Heterarchy comments: “We wanted the design to reflect the values and ethos of the client, as well as providing a stage for the theatre of fine dining. It’s amazing what you can achieve when you’re up against it, we feel the end result has a purity and clarity that comes from being so focused.”
The interior strikes a balance between luxury and informality, to feel exclusive yet be approachable. A large trompe l’oeil of a Gothic corridor adds a sense of grandeur and a touch of the unexpected, providing this compact site with both visual depth and focus.
Cornicing and panelled walls with antique mirrors and faux marble inserts add to the traditional feel. Walls are painted a warm, muted grey with a rich, dark grey above the cornice and on the ceiling. A stitched leather-effect wallpaper adds a metallic sheen to the neutral palette.
Seating is traditional in style, but given a contemporary aesthetic thanks to its matching frame and upholstery colour, which features a combination of warm metallic silver and contrasting ink blue. Tables are a dark wood veneer and flooring a neutral silvered oak vinyl.
Bespoke lighting is a key element of the design. Crackled glass globes combine with functional spotlights, all fixed to a track system that allows for changes to the layout if required. Bespoke wall lights complete a scheme that is both functional and atmospheric.
Adam Stokes says: “We chose to work with Heterarchy for our first restaurant for many reasons – we felt they could capture our concept, work with us to develop our ideas and ultimately deliver the project. Ultimately they added the extra dimension that turned our property into a restaurant with feeling.”
The design is understated and elegant, pitched at just the right level for the vibrant fine dining scene in Birmingham. The quality of the interior belies its modest cost, which is testament to the skill of the designer.
