Core is a newly-launched cafe bar and night club located on Queen Street near London’s Mansion House tube station.
Owned by Novus Leisure, the venue offers something exciting and fresh for London’s young professionals.
Novus Leisure are the owners and operators of a compilation of 48 exclusive bars, restaurants and late night experiences in London as well as other cities in the UK.
To find out more about the Core project, Premier Hospitality contacted Stuart Sutton, Contracts Manager from Interiors UK, who acted as the main contractor on the project.
Stuart said:
“Interiors UK got involved in the creation of Core through leisure hospitality design consultancy Harrison. We have done a lot of work with them in the past including Frankie and Benny’s and Chiquito’s venues. Harrison also does a lot of work with Novus Leisure who own Core.”
The workforce was on site for five weeks to conduct the refurbishment of the existing building – Apt Bar, also a Novus Leisure venue previously. The renovation and re-brand of the bar meant that the venue could be made more spacious.
Stuart added:
“Harrison creates and draws up the design concept and then Interiors UK provides these drawings to manufacturers with added dimensions. We ensure that the manufacturers can develop the designer’s ideas; this is quite a complex task and we partner well with Harrison to move the concept forward.”
The project involved taking up the original floor, removing all of the furniture and simply leaving one main bar in the dance floor area. Other than this, everything else was stripped out completely and replaced with a whole brand new ensemble.
New timber flooring was laid down throughout the building, ceramic tiled flooring was placed around the bar, a host of materials were applied to the walls, primarily reclaimed timber to create a driftwood effect. Bespoke patterns have been chiselled into the plaster in the venue walls as well as other arty, contemporary features, including screw art and ‘designer grafitti’.
The ground floor consists of a pavement level and indoor level where there is a set of stairs to take you down to the basement lounge, which is linked to the dance floor by a set of double doors. Through the main entrance, there is a new bar made with a bold, copper top with artistic mouldings on the front.
The venue includes a varied range of seating, including upholstered chairs made from character oak timber and industrial metal seating with upholstery. The ceiling is also of a bespoke plaster work design.
The basement lounge bar features a reclaimed oak top and attractive wooden panel finish. The contemporary back bar is made up of reclaimed drawers, creating shelving and LED lighting. Interiors UK have constructed various features such as floating tables, wooden floors and metal shelving to create an industrial feel.
During the development, the biggest challenge for Interiors UK was the procurement of joinery items prior to starting the work on site and within a tight timescale. All, however, went according to plan with the added benefit of access to the site’s basement via a ramp at the rear of the building.
When asked what it meant to be the main contractor on this project, Stuart said:
“Personally, I have to say it was one of the best projects I’ve worked on. We managed to achieve so much in such a short space of time. Also, it’s very rewarding to have made such a significant contribution to such a well-designed and unique venue. You will never see anything like this anywhere else in the UK.”
Interiors UK prides itself on its ability to deliver consistently high quality results for clients. Since the inception of the firm, it has developed a reputation for unrivalled service standards and works closely and proactively with clients in order to achieve market-leading results.
The company pays great attention to detail throughout all of its projects and ensures that clients’ deadlines are always met on time and on budget. Great emphasis is placed on the pre-construction planning phase and Interiors UK ensures that the project’s phasing schedule is coordinated before works begin on site.
The company’s extensive customer base includes: Chiquito’s, Frankie & Benny’s, YO! Sushi, Zizzi Restaurant, Pizza Express, ABHOTELS, Byron, Garfunkel’s, N, Soho House, Rocket, Union Jack’s and Giraffe.
Core’s sumptuous menu comprises a delicious selection of starters, mains and desserts. Dishes include Avocado and Toasted Rosemary Focaccia, Chorizo Sausage Roll or a delicious Pulled Roast Chicken Salad.
Hot Salted Beef with Emmental Cheese, Roasted Pork with Cider Apple Sauce, Fish Finger Sandwich and Seared Steak on London Sourdough are just a small selection of the main dishes on offer at this elegant new venue.
All of the food is reasonably priced. The plethora of burgers that can be found on the menu include the Core Burger, which comprises chargrilled aged British beef burger in a toasted brioche bun with beef tomato, baby gem lettuce, red onions and burger mayo, served with rosemary salted fries.
There are dishes suitable for vegetarians, including the Portobello Mushroom Burger, Vegetable Balti Curry and the heart-stoppingly-good Mac ‘N’ Cheese dish. Core also serves up an array of awesome cocktails including signature drinks such as Garden Jam, Dr Jack, The Gaffa, Fizzazzle, Morning Glory, Jelly Beanz and Moroccan Julep.
Sparkling wines and champagne are also available for those dining at Core or simply for those wishing to stop by for a few drinks: Conti D’Arco Prosecco, Moet Et Chandon Brut Imperial NV, Heidsieck Monopole, Pommery Summertime, Laurent Perrier Rose Brut NV and Louis Roederer Cristal.
As mentioned previously, Harrison was the architecture and brand consultancy for Core. The firm was established in 1990 and now holds a leading position in the leisure hospitality sector. The company prides itself on being an international specialist in the design and on-site development of bars, restaurants and hospitality retailing concepts.
Harrison has the skills base and flexibility to develop highly individual and successful hospitality retail designs as well as international branded offers with a broad scale rollout programme. Complementary services include brand positioning, creation and evolution, brand design and development; master planning, space planning and full project management.
The firm feels it has something unique to offer clients that differ from its competition. Harrison provides a personalised service by spending a great deal of time with clients, understanding their ethos, their business journey and their ambitions for the future.
Premier Hospitality caught up with Elsa Nugent, the interior designer for Core and Kevin Grima, Harrison’s Creative Director. Elsa told us that every project is important to the Harrison team, as each one allows them to showcase different aspects of their skills and experience. She said:
“With Core, Novus Leisure wanted something completely unique, which gave us the opportunity to really vent our creativity. Working within a carefully defined budget we were able to explore and take inspiration from the pop-up shops, cafes and associated artistic styles, evolving the spaces throughout the venue and allowing customers to discover and experience an urban journey.”
Cool Dynamics, based in South East London, also worked on the Core project and was instrumental in the installation of the air conditioning system. Chris Clarkson from the firm said:
“We installed the air conditioning system and we now maintain it. It’s important for us to work on projects like this because Cool Dynamics is a word of mouth company. The reputation that we have built up over the past nine years of business means that we only work with good businesses and our name is passed on as a company people can rely on.”
Renovate Contracts Ltd
Renovate Contracts are an installation and repair service, specialising in new wooden flooring and the refurbishment of existing flooring. Based in Leicestershire, the company offers high standard services all around the UK.
Renovate Contracts is also an approved and recommended court marking contractor of Gerflor, Polyfor and Junckers.
Core Bar, set in London, is one of the recent projects that Renovate have taken part in. This entailed refurbishing the existing staircase into a brand new contemporary piece, to fit in with the whole renovation of the bar.
The contractor has also worked with many well known restaurant brands such as the restaurant chain Café Rouge, Pizza Express, Giraffe and is currently undergoing refurbishments with the popular Wetherspoons chain.
Director of Renovate, Duncan Maclauchlan said:
“As a company, we’re proud of our quality and service. We offer a high quality service with reliability and promise to meet deadlines. Working at Core Bar, we ensured we met the high standards expected by Interiors UK and are pleased to be associated with them on this project.”
For further information, please visit: www.renovatecontracts.com
