London & South East

Oslo Hackney

Oslo, Hackney

DHP Family, one of the UK’s most exciting and creative entertainment companies, has recently unveiled its latest venture; Oslo.

Oslo is a varied venue boasting an impressive music venue with a state of the art sound and lighting system, as well as offering an innovative menu and drinks selection to diners and party-goers alike.

The project involved the refitting and refurbishing of an old building which used to be a Victorian train station ticket hall. Premier Hospitality caught up with Andy Lampard, Creative Director of The House With…, to find out more about the project. The interior design, branding, graphics and arts collective The House With… were the designers for Oslo and were instrumental in the development of the new venue.

Andy said:

“We became involved in the project because of our portfolio of restaurant and bar designs in London and internationally. We do not just offer interior design services but also offer food concepting services and have many contacts in the industry that especially helped us with this project.

Oslo, Hackney

“DHP, the developer, own a lot of music venues and have never really opened a venue that offers food as well music. We worked as a collective with DHP and a number of chefs who helped us food concept menus. I think the fact we offer these diverse services was of interest to DHP as they wanted us to come up with the interior design as well the food concepts for the venue.

“Oslo’s design is influenced by Scandinavian and Norwegian folklore which adds to the venue’s atmosphere. The interior design centres on nature and an ocean themed design. The design reflects Hackney which is full of incredibly creative people; we wanted to echo that creativity in the design.”

One of the venues more striking features is the hand drawn illustrations that can be found within the two storey venue. Illustrator John Powell created a fairytale themed narrative that can be followed throughout the whole venue, from the ground floor, up the stairwell and into the music venue.

Oslo, Hackney

The ground floor holds the 30 cover restaurant and large bar space and in terms of the interior design concept represents the ocean. The stairwell which leads to the music venue continues the folklore illustrations and leads guests through a lush green forest, full of magical and mysterious creatures.

The music venue boasts an impressive set of facilities; including top notch changing rooms, lighting and sounds systems as well as presenting a plethora of up and coming bands, artists and well known club nights to music lovers. The music venue design is based around the Brothers Grim fairytales and continues Oslo’s quirky, innovative design style. There is a small green room at the back of the first floor which holds a cocktail bar and can host intimate gigs, as well as being available to hire out for up to 20 people.

The main music room holds up to 350 people and the restaurant and bar offers room for up to 250 guests. The building has two entrances so as to avoid clubbers disturbing those in the restaurant and bar area. Those queuing to enter the music venue can see into the restaurant and witness those dining; this design is aimed at inspiring people to come and dine with Oslo the next time they visit the music venue.

Oslo, Hackney

The music space has also been extensively sound proofed to avoid noise leaking out of the building and disturbing those in residential and hotel accommodation nearby, but also to ensure that noise does not travel down to the floor below. Luckily the ceilings of the ground floor are almost four metres high and both the ground floor ceiling and first level floor have been sound proofed so the venue can operate as a live music space without disrupting diners.

Work began on site in September 2013 and was meant to complete at the end of December 2013 but due to unforeseen complications at a development nearby work had to be postponed. The area was completely closed off until the New Year so Oslo did not open its doors to the public until January 17th 2014.

Main contractors B & K carried out the demolition and structural works on site, bringing the dated building back up to date. Carpentry and joinery firm Town & Country carpenter carried out the bespoke woodwork and metalwork. DHP have their own in house team who sourced and installed the sound systems and lighting equipment.

Andy Lampard said:

“It’s been a fantastic project; DHP were great as they were really open-minded about the space having a design story behind it which is rare with most developers. They really liked the design story and the final result.

“We didn’t want to ship things in from overseas and so sourced everything from the local area; keeping things very relevant to Hackney. We did not go over the top with expensive finishes and focused instead on ensuring there was a story behind every single item in the venue.”

Oslo, Hackney

Town and Country Joinery

Town and Country Joinery is a high-end joinery fit-out contractor working on projects throughout the construction industry. The company has been in operation for 22 years and within this time has worked with many leading clients, including Morrisons and Bannatyne Health & Fitness, amongst others.

At present, Town and Country Joinery is involved with a project for Centre Parcs Woburn, supplying kitchens to 625 lodges and conducting a hotel fit-out. Town & Country Joinery is also involved with a number of bespoke joinery works on the site.

Working on Oslo, Town & Country Joinery worked with DHP Family and project designers The House With…, to complete the fit-out of the venue’s bespoke bar areas. This aspect of the project also involved some specialist fabrication and metal work.

Oslo, Hackney

Town and Country Joinery Managing Director, Wayne Hill, said:

“We had a great client on this project and it was great to be involved with Oslo.”

Wayne added:

“At Town and Country Joinery we pride ourselves on our flexibility, quality of work and our attention to detail.”

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Roma Publications