are served to a lot of people, which requires technical and
operational considerations, and careful planning is needed
on how the space works. Another key aspect of restaurants
and bars is to create that all important ‘wow’ effect.
But to design an interior that achieves this in an age of
social media and Instagram is increasingly hard, especially
with information travelling globally in an instant, a fact not
missed by Norden, who points out that designers need to
watch this development very closely.
‘It can be very hard to develop something that is truly
original nowadays and the field is a lot broader. Creating
an identity for a scheme that sets itself apart from the rest
is challenging,’ she says. ‘When Conran’s Quaglino’s
opened over 20 years ago the trend was for big, dramatic
restaurants, while today, the tiny chef-owned idiosyncratic
personal place takes people’s imagination.”
For inspiration, Norden says she’s always on the look-
out for new ideas, whether it’s through visiting the latest
bars and restaurants, attending industry events or travelling
(she spends about half her time outside of the UK).
Ensuring longevity in restaurant and bar design can be
difficult as it’s a sector where fashion inevitably sneaks in.
However, Conran’s has been pretty successful at this. For
example, Norden led the interior design project for the
German Gymnasium in King’s Cross, now considered
something of a classic. Conran also worked on the former
Great Eastern Hotel nearly 20 years ago and only last year
the practice refurbished its interiors for Hyatt’s rebranding
exercise, for what is now called the Andaz Liverpool Street.
Norden says it was a challenging project given that they
were working to a tight budget and every hotel bedroom
had to be different.
‘The best chance of creating an interior that’s timeless
is all about creating a narrative and developing a design
that’s specific for the site,’ says Norden. ‘Keep fashionable
items and colours that might change to things like the
upholstery. Striking that balance between things that are
relevant but have their own strong story is key.’
Norden is well-placed to provide an insight into where
restaurant and bar design is heading. She says it’s hard to
predict given that fashions change within months, but she
does suggest that there is a striving for authenticity and a
more people-centric approach to design. Colour, she says,
always changes and is the most fashion-based. We’ve been
in an age of muted, subtle pastels she says, and suggests
that colour will continue to be much bolder.
Given Norden’s breadth of experience, can she offer
any key lessons to budding designers?
‘Listening is crucial, whether it’s to your colleagues,
client or another consultant. Giving people the benefit of
their experience and taking that on board is important,’
says Norden. ‘Being firm in your opinions is also key – if
you take on absolutely everything that people say to you
it becomes the proverbial camel. It’s important that as
designers we have a very strong vision and we stand by
that. After all, that’s what clients pay us for.’
As a partner, Norden increasingly curates projects
where she has to make some tough decisions to ensure
different elements of a scheme come together
harmoniously. This can often mean that some strong ideas
developed over time may be rejected and put aside, which
can be hard, but she says that being ruthless at times is
a necessary part of the design process.
Given that Norden has worked on many projects of
great complexity and variety, is there anything left that
would fire her imagination?
‘The project I would still love to do is a resort,’ she
enthuses. ‘They demand all the skills. There’s architecture,
interiors, landscape, everything merged together – it’s
almost like creating an overall vision. What’s great about a
resort is that there is no distinction between the architect
and the interior designer – the lines are much more
blurred and there’s a general understanding that these
should be designed by the same hand. It would be
amazing to design a resort somewhere in Europe, like
Croatia – now that would be fun!’Left The first of the Ruya
restaurants opened on the
Dubai Marina in 2016. Norden
describes the interiors as
having ‘a richness to them’052 FOCUS
‘Listening is crucial,
whether it’s to your
colleagues, client or
another consultant’LUKE HAYES