014 PROJECT
Interior design studio Bishop Design used
intricate structures of decorative lighting to
bring the Torno Subito restaurant to life as
the newest addition to Starwood’s W hotel
on Palm Jumeirah beach in Dubai.
Commencing the project in late 2016, the
studio’s founder Paul Bishop and his team
handed over the full interior design package
within just four months. With the ongoing
construction of the W Hotel, the venue
made its long-awaited debut in January this
year.
Paul Bishop led the project to design the
new eatery, linking each element to the
values of the restaurant’s world famed
Italian Michelin star chef, Massimo Bottura.
Speaking with darc, he says: “The brief
was quite simply to realise the sentiment
of Massimo having fun. It was to be a
metaphysical manifestation of beachside
days reminiscent of Rimini’s coastal
playground of the 1950s and 60s, an Italian
seaside town where Bottura grew up andnow hosts annual food festivals.
“We wanted to capture fun-filled days
enjoying amazing food, drinks and ultimate
relaxation. The interiors are current, bold,
avant-garde and playful, yet evocative
of days passed. They are cinematic and
culminate in a visual journey that was
achieved through diverse materials and
interior installations evoking memories and
collections of objects.”
Despite the long build time, the brief didn’t
really change throughout the project, but
rather the team’s perception of the brief
developed in terms of how they could
successfully translate it into an interior
concept. Bishop says: “We conjured up
multiple ideas, testing varying solutions, but
it was also essential that the functionality
wasn’t overlooked. I think we managed to
establish a perfect equilibrium between
aesthetic and function.”
The main challenge for Bishop and the
team lay in working with such a passionateindividual such as Massimo. “It was evident
from the beginning that Massimo had
an amazing vision and to be trusted to
transform that vision into reality was beyond
inspiring, yet incredibly daunting,” he
admits.
“As the restaurant was also to become
Massimo’s first gastronomical venture
outside of Italy, developing a concept for
Dubai that also remained true to its cultural
origins potentially posed the challenge of
appearing fake and contrived.”
Taking inspiration from Massimo’s vision, all
decorative lighting features within the space
were selected for their fun and playful
characteristics. They perfectly establish the
evocative narrative that Massimo desired
from the very outset of the project. The
lighting aims to enliven the space and
animate it not only as a visual but also as an
emotional journey through bygone days.
“Decorative lighting was an integral part
of the venue’s DNA as it stood to create