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Surf & Turf DesignLSM and The Light Corporation bring a warm, comfortable atmosphere to Burger & Lobster's laest London location. Pics: James French Photography
Leicester Square, London, is one of the newest homes for restaurant chain Burger & Lobster. Featuring interior design by DesignLSM and bespoke lighting from The Light Corporation, it forms part of the brand’s current expansion along with the openings of London sites in West India Quay and Holborn. The restaurant is housed beneath the five-star W hotel’s striking exterior, in an arresting double height space with a vast mezzanine upper floor, featuring an open kitchen and dining area. DesignLSM worked to retain some of the site’s original features including the grand brass bar front, central spiral staircase and timber flooring, carefully curating these existing elements into the brand’s unique design scheme. Inside the restaurant, a dazzling hanging light chandelier takes centre stage, designed to be evocative of the luxury hotel’s external lighting facade. The signature
features of lobster tanks and bold banquette seating create an instantly recognisable connection to the Burger & Lobster brand, accompanied by the addition of a refined and relaxed downstairs bar and lounge area. “The idea behind the look and feel of the restaurant is that diners walk in and immediately know they’re in a Burger & Lobster location,” says Tim Henderson, Director at The Light Corporation. “Having worked on every restaurant since the first opening in Mayfair, we have key signature pieces that we use across all restaurants, which includes two styles of pendants and a ribbed glass wall light. We put these in every branch, along with illuminated lobster baskets so there’s a direct palate of information available - on top of that we’re given free reign when designing the rest of the lighting elements. “We have worked very closely with DesignLSM on all the Burger & Lobster
restaurants and this most recent location was no different,” continues Henderson. “The team at DesignLSM has got a very good feel of the brand and how it can move forward. When we’re working together, we’ll bounce ideas around and make sure that all the features we put in work well together.” For Henderson, the key role of the decorative lighting at Burger & Lobster is to bring a warm, atmospheric feel to the space; with all of it bespoke fixtures made in-house by The Light Corporation. “We’ll always use warm colour temperature lamps at Burger & Lobster, while the lighting is heavily zoned and makes use of a dimming system that we designed and specified particularly for the project,” he tells darc. “It means the walkways can make use of different light levels to the tables, and then can be different again to the features and the wall lights etc. We’re able to create a lot of scenes for the restaurant to use