Bar & Restaurant Design- Core Bar London

On Tuesday I was lucky enough to be invited to the opening night of a new bar in the City. It's called 'Core' and it is right next to Mansion House tube station. I always love visiting new bars, it's so exciting to see what changes have been made from the previous design and layout (and obviously I was quite excited to check out the new cocktail menu!) 

The new look is very industrial, and ever so slightly surreal with lots of feature walls, pop art, and re-purposed materials. The new design features lots of raw materials, such as bare wood, metals, leather, and exposed brick with a host of mis-matched furniture bringing in a sense of fun!

So... This is the main bar, on the ground floor. I love these colourful cafe style chairs and tables! The table tops feature cute retro advertisement prints, while the mirrored wall behind gives an industrial feel, they remind me of old factory windows!

The lighting in this area consists mainly of exposed bulbs, again adding to the industrial feel. The lighting on the ceiling is made up of lots of plaster ceiling rose's, with bulbs screwed in right at the base, and no shade. Having so many of these together makes an interesting feature of the ceiling, a place which normally goes unnoticed. 

Downstairs to the basement bar: The Main club area features lots of cosy booths. The ones below are built into the wall, and feature a mirror at the back to create an illusion of more space. The club area is quite dark, but with lots of feature lighting which makes the whole space feel exciting and mysterious... The booths opposite wall are made from scaffolding poles and wire mesh, forming a cage around the seating area- with red feature lighting on the wall reading 'This Must Be The Place'

The other side of the basement features a more lounge/bar/restaurant style area, with much more seating, and loads of colour and pattern on the ceiling and walls. Campbell's soup cans make interesting wall lights, and another wall features an artwork made from nails banged in at different heights, which at the right angle shows the images of faces in the wall.

The bathrooms have been changes into a fun, vibrant and colourful space, featuring a big pop art 'POW' mural on the ceiling with and comic, and cartoon character murals on the doors of the stalls. Large butler style sinks, wall lights and round mirrors ensure the space doesn't feel tacky, and still has a feeling of luxury and elegance.

The outside seating/smoking area features mis-matched cafe style garden chairs, with wooden tables, bringing the theme of the inside out on the the patio area.

And last, but by no means least, the amazing cocktails, served in jam jars, yum yum yum!