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Oblix Restaurant, The Shard
London 2013
Claudio Silvestrin’s interior architecture: elegant simplicity imbued with warm and powerful, natural materials. A perfectly serene space in which the experience of dining becomes a unique journey: the feeling of being on top of the world, yet clearly grounded by the interior architecture.
The design intends to give customers the feeling of being in a soulful, warm, earthy space yet suspend on the 32nd floor of the Shard. The emotional qualities of the nourishing, life-giving elements that evolve from water, fire and earth are beautifully composed in pure, clear, decisive geometric forms, thus bonding the abstract space configuration with the physical nature of materials, particularly the stone strength and endurance.
The natural materials that have been selected – raw, brownish, yellowish and reddish sand stone and porphyry for floor, walls and counters, copper and bronze liquid metal, marmorino, tan leather upholstery and ebony wood, provide the restaurant with a distinguished image of solidity, permanence and timeless luxury, intensified by refectory-like stone tables, stone jars and stone totems.
The restaurant space of 920 m² is divided into two areas: the 203 m² formal dining and the 243 m² lounge and bar, united by a long stretching spine where a desk-less reception is located. This tunnel has, intentionally, a cave-like perspective with a specific soft light installation of pure atmosphere, leading, by contrast, into the restaurant zones bathed in light and with a dramatic view over London.
In a creative reversal, Claudio Silvestrin’s revolutionary idea allows customers to enter the composed dining space through the kitchen, experiencing the colours, sounds and aromas of the cooking space, before being seated. The design thus enhances the sensuality of the dining experience.
Claudio Silvestrin Architects
Highly creative, Claudio Silvestrin was born in 1954, studied under A. G. Fronzoni in Milan and at the Architectural Association in London. His interest in philosophy, his vision, his integrity, clarity of mind, inventiveness and concern for details is reflected in his distinctive architecture: austere but not extreme, contemporary yet timeless, calming but not ascetic, strong but not intimidating, elegant but not ostentatious, simple but not soulless.
Claudio Silvestrin Architects was established in 1989 with offices in London, and since
2006 also Milan. The work of the practice encompasses real estate developments,
newly built houses and resorts for private residence, art galleries and museums, restaurants, luxury retail stores and furniture design. Clients include Giorgio Armani, illycaffé, Anish Kapoor, Calvin Klein, Victoria Miro, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo for whom he has designed the museum in Turin and the internationally acclaimed hip hop artist and producer Kanye West.
