DesignLSM has created a striking urban-style interior for Rohit Chugh’s second restaurant, Chai Ki, in Canary Wharf.
Making some design cues from Rohit Chugh’s modern Indian street kitchen on Portman Mews South, Chai Ki is awash with raw finishes and detailed design features.
The restaurant’s high ceilings and dramatic qualities provided DesignLSM with the perfect opportunity to create a visually arresting interior. Each zone of the restaurant has thus been given its own character and personality, while remaining harmonious with the overall scheme.
Customers enter the space through a series of structural steels with an exposed timber joisted ceiling. Here, there is a take away ‘fast bar’ area, with coffees, chai and takeaway food on offer. Within this section, high-level seating, long tables and bespoke lighting features create a moody atmosphere.
The main dining space is situated on the mezzanine level. Enclosed with blackened steel and expanded metal balustrade, the area looks out onto the front boardwalk and into the bar.
The large kitchen has been treated as an architectural intervention. A concrete rendered block houses the kitchen in the centre of the restaurant, while a bespoke hot rolled steel, brass and oak staircase wraps around the kitchen block and takes customers up to the WCs.
The rear of the restaurant, meanwhile, is flooded with natural light during the day and benefits from scenic views over the River Thames. A section of the dining room is surrounded by a vivid orange curtain which can be utilised to create a private dining space.
At night, striking ceiling lights create an atmospheric glow, while diners can see their food being prepared through an orange window into the kitchen, heightening the culinary experience with a sense of drama.
