2008 - 2010:  Senior Designer/

Project Management,

Opium Bars, Nosh for Posh, Bath, UK

Design Project: Hospitality

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THE BRIEF:

Design & build a new bar and restaurant in a reclaimed space; a set of arched chambers that were previously an entrance to a 16th century dungeon in the centre of Bath, Somerset, UK.  Establish this turnkey business as a leading hospitality venue in the city,  Deliver a comprehensive digital, social and print marketing campaign with a 3 year cycle.  Achieve recognition in the 1st 12 months.  Become seed investment neutral after 18 months and return free profit.

DESIGN SOLUTION:

The design created from an amalgamation of visual research streams.  When reviewing the use of Opium throughout history it was apparent that over the last two millenia Opium has had a prioritised use in cultural social behaviour.  Therefore it was decided that the design was to reflect different periods of style throughout the year from Modern-Urban, Asian, Victorian Gothic, Greco-Roman.  

The spatial planning of the space was a challenge,  The space was a disused link of undrground arched chambers.  These dated back to the 16th century dungeon that was originall built in forestry by the river.  With the groeth of the city the dungeon had been built over and the arches forgotten about until we discovered the land and excavated.  When  to excavaing the space we removed 80+ tons of earth by hand due to the access and then had to tank the entire chambers creating a waterproof hemetic space.  With fire regs and H&S we had to structurally change the entrances and create a fire exit. The interior construction separeated the chamer into 4 each with two sides.  During the construction and refurb we discovered a natural spring well which we encompassed into the design with a toughened glass cover.