case study one - cocktail bar refurb

In this case study, we follow the refurbishment and the transformation of a dreary, tired pub into an opulent cocktail bar.

The initial meeting and brief:
The initial client meeting took place on site. We walked through the property discussing the space, the budget, the timescale and their ideal clientele. We also talked about what they liked, what they admired and what they envisioned for the different areas. Selecting form this mass of information we fine-tuned the brief to a succinct brief: "Design and style the space to create an opulent cocktail bar with rich luxurious colours; incorporating quirky, Instagram-worthy features".

The concept:
Extracting all the elements that worked well together; collating them into one coherent vision, we created concept boards to give the client an overall flavour of the proposed scheme.

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The scheme:

The tight budget and six week timescale were key factors in the design and installation of this project.

To keep the costs down we reused, reupholstered and refurbished most of the existing features within the premises:

The rustic stone bar front was boarded and recovered with purple tiles (cheaper than the original choice of teal tiles); the traditional top lights were replaced with purple perspex and the back-lighting repaired; and, the bar back unit was upgraded with glass shelving and LED coloured lights. The rustic stone chimney breast was also boarded and wallpapered in luxurious gold contract quality wallpaper.

The existing wooden floors were sanded and re-stained a rich mahogany. The tired, worn carpet area and tiled bar floor surround were replaced with new wooden flooring to match the rest of the premises.

The bar, games room and entrance area were all redecorated. We added a feature contract quality mural, printed to size, with the rest of the walls block painted in a palette of co-ordinating deep jewel colours.

Where possible existing seating was refurbished and reupholstered in jewel coloured contract quality velvet or vinyl.

To adorn the walls we created bespoke artwork in salvaged, ornate gilt frames together with gilt mirrors and vintage signage.

We sourced three magnificent, bargain light fittings for the games area and commissioned the creation of quirky upcycled mannequin hand wall lights. The quirky wall lights, the repurposed full-size Carousel Horse, a customised wall-mounted purple stag's head and several neon signs, ticked the requested 'Instagram-worthy' box.

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Project management:
Throughout the installation we visited the site regularly to check progress, provide instructions, answer questions and to liaise with the fabulous trades people working their socks off to meet the six week deadline...and meet it we did!!!

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