The Lawn Bistro

Located on Wimbledon High Street, the Lawn Bistro is owned by restaurateur Akbar Ashurov and chef Ollie Couillaud, formerly of La Trompette. The clients brief was for designLSM to create an elegant, spacious and friendly dining environment.

Work commenced at the end of August. The site, formerly Lydon’s restaurant was dark with a heavy colour scheme consisting of dark greens and wenge floors. With the emphasis on opening up the interior – a large bar area towards the front of the restaurant was created.  Large mirrors, glass pendant lightening and paneling throughout the whole scheme provides fluidity - incorporating the once isolated private dining area towards the back of the restaurant.

Tim Burford, Projects Director and his team set about redesigning the mechanical scheme, which was housed in a low bulkhead to the perimeter of the restaurant. By removing this, greater head height was achieved and visually opened up the space. To bring the scheme up to date, the existing timber floors were sanded and re-stained in a lighter tone.

A palette of warm grey with an accent colour of orange in the seat buttons, bar stool seat pads, two feature chairs and on the stair runner has been applied. Commissioned artwork and blocks of Cole & Son wallpaper provide additional focus across the dining room, which seats 65 covers.

The basement, which was formerly redundant, now boasts an impressive wine display and tasting area featuring brightly coloured armchairs.

The grey shop frontage reflects the clean, warm interior and introduction of canopies creates a high street presence.