One of the best things about being an interior designer is seeing the transformation between the original site we walked through with the client and the engaging space it then becomes. In this series of posts we are going to look at some of our favourite transformations. Some sites are very much a shell when we visit them for the first time, others still have the tables set from the last time they were open. With those sites we need to remove the clutter before we can see the space in its stripped out state.
Our job at Engaging Interiors Limited is to have the vision to see the potential of these spaces and what they may become. Sometimes that vision comes immediately, other times it takes more work. We have worked on projects where the client has a clear vision, in these cases we are a guiding hand, helping them realise their own ideas.
Case Study – Chasing Rabbits | Hove
The existing use for one of Hove’s coolest coffee shops was a betting shop. It was a soulless experience with all of the trappings of a bland office interior. Something tells me the upstairs might have been used as a Christmas pop up grotto at some point.
Exterior
It is fair to say we the exterior transformation we extensive. We opened up one of the first floor window positions that had been previously blocked in and applied a mural to the upper facade. The gap on the fascia is waiting for the awning to be applied.
Interior – Ground Floor
The existing ground floor had a lay in grid ceiling and a mixture of structural and non structural walls we wanted to remove. This was all achieved to create a much more open space as you can see in the right hand photograph below.
Interior – First Floor
I normally like to tread as lightly as possible with sites but the business model for the coffee shop meant we needed to get customers up the stairs where there was a lot of space. When the client explained the need for the upstairs to house most of the seating I had one of my immediate ideas of moving the stairs to the end wall and putting a large mural on it. It was important to make the upstairs as as architecturally interesting as possible so I recommended opening up the ceiling to the underside of the roof line as well. Luckily the client agreed and results are below
