Hever Castle's 'Elegant interior'

16th July 2010, 2:05pm

Top chefs Albert Roux OBE and Legion d'Honneur recently launched THE GUTHRIE PAVILION restaurant at Hever Castle. The interior designers talk us through how they created this 'elegant interior' in just over six months.

The Pavilion restaurant was formerly housed in a 1970s style building in need of renovation. Now, the exterior of the building has been completely overhauled with the introduction of stone columns and an English oak pergola, with wood locally sourced from the castle's estate.  

Michael Hall and Sean Cooksley, of ABDA Creative Design, say there was lots to consider when designing this venture: "Hever Castle wanted to create an exceptional dining experience for their day visitors whilst offering their corporate and wedding guests a unique backdrop to their special occasion; so the aim was to design an elegant interior that could function as a café and restaurant for visitors 90% of the time and host private events 10% of the time.  It was also important that the design of the restaurant should complement its surrounding environment and historical setting."

The designers used a range of light pastel colours to allow natural sunlight to enter the building. They explain: "The vaulted ceiling of the interior and french doors along the length of the building let in streams of natural sunlight so we highlighted this by choosing a classic design palette of pastel colours, soft lighting, stylish furnishings and an oak floor.  However, we felt that the large expanse of oak flooring should be broken up during the standard function of the restaurant, so for the tables we chose a dark walnut as a visual contrast. 

"For weddings and other functions the walnut tables can be covered so the whole space can be adapted to suit the client's choice of colour and design. The wedding side of the design required soft upholstered seating whereas the standard function restaurant required something more practical.  To get round this we used a robust timber chair with removable upholstered seat and back pads, in a soft-to-touch vinyl for added durability."
 
The fact that the restaurant can be used for every occasion is what makes it so unique, say the designers. "The key feature of the restaurant is its adaptability.  The joinery items - such as the dispense bars and banquette - are fully mobile so they can be relocated to suit different events. 

"The banquette seating can be used not only to provide seating but also to act as a physical barrier to separate areas of the restaurant for reserved parties.  On a daily basis it is used to differentiate between the counter service café area for day visitors and the table service restaurant area.  The dispense units can be used independently for cookery demonstrations or for a variety of other food and drink serving functions including coffee bars, champagne bars, condiments areas and buffet tables."

The designers were involved in the brief of the design right through to the construction works: "Working with Hever Castle and the catering contractors Leith's, we were involved from the start in establishing the brief and identifying what the facility needed to provide in terms of function and ambience.  

"As part of this process the main architects provided the basis of their main building works.  In the design concept stage, our approach was to use imagery and sketch work presentation to establish how that we could achieve a planning solution to answer the operational requirements, whilst still achieving the right level of mood and ambience through imagery and sketch work presentation. 

"Through ongoing discussion and feedback from all parties, we developed the design with materials selection and detailed layouts and finalised visuals that Hever Castle could use to promote the new venue.  The service we provided on this occasion was design and build, so it took us from design concept through to construction; from the technical drawing process through project management of the installation in line with the main building works to realise our design in the finished installed facility.  We completed this on programme and in budget."

So where did you get your inspiration from, I asked them. "The restaurant is situated beside the Venetian stonework of the Italian Gardens and overlooks the lake, which is crowned by a magnificent stone loggia and a colonnaded piazza.  

"We took inspiration from the classical beauty of the surroundings, with a focus on minimalist clean lines and traditional elegance, which is reflected in the Palladian feel of the building; the multi-vaulted ceiling inside and the stone columns and oak pergola outside.  In terms of the internal joinery and fit-out, we were inspired by organic food outlets such as Daylesford and Betty's Tea Rooms."

There are two eating areas; the Guthrie Café provides a counter service offering light refreshments and afternoon tea, whilst the Guthrie Restaurant provides a table service offering more substantial meals.  Hever's corporate guests can use the restaurant for private functions seating over 200.

Hever Castle's chief executive Duncan Leslie said: "We are absolutely delighted with the restoration of the Guthrie Pavilion. The 1970s building has undergone a huge transformation over the last six months to become a magnificent eatery and entertaining space. The new Pavilion now perfectly complements its surrounding environment and its historical setting.

"We wanted to create an exceptional dining experience for our day visitors and we believe that the beautifully renovated Pavilion and outstanding food offering will do just that. The new Pavilion will also offer our corporate and wedding guests a unique backdrop to their special occasion."

The designers said: "Hever Castle are absolutely delighted with the space that has been created, which will dramatically improve the day visitor's experience and can also be tailored to suit a variety of private events.  The adaptability of the venue, without any compromise in functionality, is probably the greatest design success.  We are all proud of the finished restaurant and we were very pleased to work on such a prestigious project."

Looking ahead, the designers are working on developing a new food outlet concept for Restaurant Associates. They have also recently completed a groundbreaking restaurant design within the atrium of the new £200M Walsall PFI hospital.

Related Articles:

• 28 Jun 2010 - Top chefs open restaurant at Hever Castle