Premier Hospitality

Coppa Club

Coppa Club
Written by Roma Publications

The Coppa Club

 Coppa Club

Described as a place for eating, drinking, meeting and unwinding, The Coppa Club has opened its newest location in London. The 260-cover restaurant will offer guests an all-day dining and drinking space, operating no membership fees, dress code or rules.

Having opened on Monday 30th May, on Lower Thames Street near Tower Bridge, the London location follows in the footsteps of the clubs first location on The River Sonning.

Designed by Archer Humphryes Architects, The Coppa Club is built around a central, brass bar that’s open on all sides. The site has a raised lounge for working and winding down, a 260-cover restaurant with marble herringbone floor and a café with booths and a fireplace.

Run by Directors David Archer and Julie Humphreys, Archer Humphryes worked on The Coppa Club for over a year, helping the owners with their concept before completing the final design.

David Archer spoke to Premier Hospitality magazine about working on the project.

He said: “We were asked by the owner about a year before we were commissioned to work on Tower Bridge to provide thinking for the development of the Coppa Club. They gave us a brief and we were able to respond to that in terms of thinking about the project in all of its various assets and the kind of character, flexibility and breadth of the brand that they were providing.”

Outside there is a large, south-facing terrace that catches the sun all day with seating designed to make the most of the site’s views over the river.
David added: “The site is remarkable as it has iconic London views. It is next door to the Tower of London, it looks diagonally across to Tower Bridge, it looks straight across to HMS Belfast and sits directly on the river. It benefits from both a wide, deep dining terrace that is tremendous and in May/June is sun soaked so is a pleasure to use. You are immediately aware of the Thames, the river and the tide, the bank and the water and the traffic and the river taxi, as well as various river activities all day, so that gives it a perpetual light as well. It is quite hypnotic and is very engaging.”

The Coppa Club is open from 7:30am Monday to Friday and from 9am at weekends, serving breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks and snacks throughout the day. The ‘relaxed’ menu focuses on thoughtful, unfussy, European food from small plates such as Italian Meatballs and Crispy Fried Squid and snacks to grilled mains including Flash Steak and Fries to Corn Fed Chicken, sourdough pizzas and healthy snacks including a Club Caesar Salad.

A wide selection of breakfast and brunch options is also available including Free Range Scrambled Eggs with brown or white toast served with Severn & Wye Valley Kiln Smoked Salmon and the Pancake Stack.

The bar serves carefully-chosen wines, beers and classic cocktails as well as new creations.

David said: “The idea is that you can go there for breakfast and early morning coffee and croissants, have meetings in the morning, stay for a light lunch, or an afternoon glass of wine, have pre dinner drinks and stay for dinner, so that meant that the depth, breadth and flexibility of the space were integral to its ideas. It is similar to being a club, with the idea that people use them all day so they can socialise in there, eat in there, drink in there and then enjoy the evening in there and relax in the same space. Those are big ideas that grow the content of the work.

“A lot of the ideas were provided by the client and one of them was that the pub has re-emerged as a gastro pub/restaurant, but one of the things that has an enormous appeal about pubs is that people always know where to stand, what to do when they walk in and how to use them and the idea was to be able to provide a dining venue that had those qualities.”

The Coppa Club state that diners can drop in for breakfast and stay for dinner – no-one outstays their welcome.
David concluded: “The owners have been very pleased and delighted. The design is really accurate and is a response to their requirements. They were very clear as to what those were and that has been delivered.

“As a business and individuals, both Julie and I are very engaged with and are passionate about the hospitality industry in all aspects of our business, including the hotel work, the restaurant work and the residential work that we do. The Coppa Club is interesting because of its breadth and the whole motion of it. It also fits seamlessly into our hotel portfolio in terms of its all day use and its lobby like characteristics. It is close to us because we have been able to work with bespoke furniture designed for the space and bring a good deal of the depth of skills and resources that we have in our business to bare on the project, so it has been very fruitful in that aspect. It has been a treat to work on and we are delighted.”

Coppa Club

Ben Dawson Ltd

Ben Dawson Ltd is a leading designer and manufacturer of furniture for architectural interiors including hotels, restaurants, corporate & public buildings and private residences. The company has been in operation since 1983 and within this time has worked with a range of prestigious clients, including the likes of British Airways, BBC, Clyde & Co, Coutts, Glenmorangie, Kuwait National Assembly, National Galleries of Scotland, RBS, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scottish Parliament, Shell and the Welsh Assembly, amongst others.

Most recently, Ben Dawson Ltd has been involved in the Coppa Club, designing, developing and manufacturing seating including bar stools, bar chairs and dining chairs. Working closely with David Archer of Archer Humphryes, Ben Dawson Ltd provided unique designs for the seating, incorporating the finest solid timbers, leathers and rattan.

Ben Dawson, said:

“Coppa Club represents a new concept in high-end all-day dining in a club atmosphere and the furniture needs to reflect the qualities of the environment, whilst still being robust and practical.”

Ben added:

“Projects may begin in different ways, but they always arrive at the same conclusion – furniture that fulfils an architectural scheme through seamless integration or dramatic standout. Furniture that is as beautiful as it is practical.”

About the author

Roma Publications