Hasta La Ideas

Hackney design studio Very Good & Proper used glossy tiles salvaged from the London Underground in the Covent Garden branch of restaurant chain Canteen (+ slideshow).

The studio have combined contemporary furniture with vintage details to create an interior that complements Canteen’s British menu.

Diners can choose to sit at an oak table or in a retro dining booth.

The bar area has a zinc counter top and reclaimed Victorian mosaic tiles cover the floor.

Very Good & Proper designed the bar stools and the brass wall hooks, as well as the brass and oak Canteen Utility Chair, which can be found in all Canteen restaurants. Dezeen featured the chair when it launched at London Design Festival in 2009.

The restaurant is located on the ground floor of the Lyceum Theatre near Covent Garden.

Photography is by Ed Reeve.

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Here’s some more information from the designers:

Canteen is celebrated not only for its all day menu but also for its progressive approach to design. The restaurant group designs and produces its own furniture, through British design studio Very Good & Proper. The ‘Canteen Utility Chair’ is hugely popular, and is found in each Canteen restaurant, its design and style now instantly recognisable. However, the chair is not solely for Canteen or just restaurant use, it can now also be found in sought-after locations around the world – MoMA Sweden, BBC and Channel 4 creative meeting spaces, and the new Facebook headquarters in San Francisco. The chair is sold through leading international design retailers. The Canteen Utility Chair has been redefined for Canteen Covent Garden with brushed brass metalwork.

With the original façade of the building dating from the 1830s, Canteen’s contemporary design is juxtaposed with the ornate molding around the tall windows and front doors. The bar area is sleek and inviting with its zinc bar top, Very Good & Proper designed bar stools and chairs and reclaimed Victorian mosaic floor tiles.

A slope leads down to the large oak herringbone-floored dining room with booth seating lined against a tiled wall (original tiles used by London Underground); the ‘Covent Garden Chair’ in various colours sits at the round tables, while the brushed brass Canteen Utility Chair lines the long tables beneath the windows.

Canteen Covent Garden is designed by VG&P, currently exhibiting at Clerkenwell Design Week and nominated for Design Museum Design of the Year 2012.
Canteen Hook and Knob – Limited edition brass knob and fire engine red hook
Canteen Utility Chair – limited edition brass frame with oak seat
Covent Garden Club Chair – designed and named specifically for this restaurant
Croquet shelving (new product, available to order soon)

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by Very Good & Proper appeared first on Dezeen.