050 FOCUS
2018 WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR for Tina Norden. Not only
was the aff able, strikingly tall architect made a partner at
Conran & Partners, she was also the project leader for Ruya,
an Anatolian restaurant and bar with a deliciously exuberant
interior, which opened last year in London’s Mayfair.
‘Th e Ruya restaurants were defi nitely a departure for
us,’ says Norden. ‘Our other projects tend to be more
restrained in their detailing and layering, while the Ruya
interiors have a richness to them, which was unusual.’
Th e fi rst of the Ruya restaurants opened on the Dubai
Marina in 2016, scooping a number of awards including
both the Ahead MEA restaurant award and the Gold Key
award for Best Casual Dining, while Ruya London was
shortlisted for an FX award.
Norden cites the Ruya restaurants as a good example of
a particularly successful project, which was made easier by
her team being involved at an early stage. It also helped that
Norden had developed a good relationship with the client,
a young enthusiastic Turkish restauranteur, having worked
with him on other schemes. To prepare for the project,
Norden’s team closely researched the Ottoman Empire and
Byzantine architecture, extracting elements that symbolised
modern and historic Turkey that could be used in the design.
‘Th e client wanted food stations with open cooking so
customers could be engaged in the process,’ says Norden.
‘Th ese were great starting points and we developed some
touchpoints, such as the centrally placed bread oven and
the Oklava rolling pins hanging from above. For the
traditionally made Turkish tiles, we designed a contemporary
pattern based on our research, and the chandeliers hark
back to the beautiful huge lights seen in mosques.’
In spite of the similarities in materials, patterns and
colours, there is still a clear distinction between the two
locations. Ruya Dubai has a large square-shaped space
allowing for four diff erent zones, and it has an external
terrace featuring a cooling green wall. By contrast, London,
which had formerly been an unremarkable bank, is a long
skinny space and was therefore more challenging, particularly
in relation to resolving the acoustics and insulation.
Norden is keen to point out that Conran & Partners
does not have a house style, partly due to the fact that
there are six partners, each doing very diff erent projects.
However, they do share a set of sensibilities that includes
designing for people, being spatially aware, and creating
experiences and narratives.
‘Every project is narrative-driven – we always look at
the context, the history. We employ a simple use of
materiality, we don’t overdesign and we try to keep thingstimeless,’ says Norden. ‘If we’re doing architecture we look
at the interiors, if we’re doing interiors we look at the
architecture. By talking to the client and fi nding out their
aspirations and ideas we try to fi nd a hook that we can
base the design on, which makes it bespoke to the site.’
Growing up in Hamburg, Germany, the young Norden
always knew she wanted to do something creative. Her
father had his own landscape architecture practice, but
given that she had no natural aptitude for horticulture she
realised this wasn’t for her. Architecture ticked all the boxes.
‘Architectural training lends itself to very rigorous
thought that can be applied to all sorts of creative disciplines,’
says Norden. ‘It’s the perfect sphere to work in as it’s
structurally creative, has technology, there’s a physicalRight Ruya London was
shortlisted for an FX awardProfile
Tina Norden,
partner,
Conran &
Partners