BROADWAY INTERIORS REVEAL THE SECRETS BEHIND THE AWARD-WINNING DESIGN
07 Feb. 2021The INDEX Design Award winners for ‘Best Café, Bar or Lounge Design Project’ in 2018, Broadway Interiors talk success and design of the award-winning F&B brand’s “Lock, Stock & Barrel” second venue in Rixos Premium JBR.
Have you wondered what makes an award-winning project? The INDEX Awards team interviews Chris Barnes, Owner and Founder of Broadway Interiors to give you a flavour of the type of project you could be up against at this years INDEX Design Awards. Find out how to enter here, the deadline to submit nominations is 28th Feb.
What led to the idea behind reinventing the design of “Lock, Stock & Barrel” second venue in Rixos Premium JBR?
We had to upscale into a space 3 times bigger than our first venue. More space, more capacity – these were the requirements. The opportunity of the larger footprint meant we had to rethink the design, particularly the upper floor. The client wanted to build upon the success of the first venue, adding new offerings to enhance the food and beverage experience further. How did we do this? Ensuring casual dining was positioned throughout, with strategically placed bars on all levels, reduced waiting times, whilst provisions for food preparation, enable a varied and complex menu.
Were there any challenges prior to re-design?
Being a much larger venue, it came with its own technical challenges particularly structural and the flow of clientele within and around the space, including more points of entry and exit to accommodate Fire Life Safety regulations for the greater capacity! Oversized columns were embraced, turning them into bold features, cladding them in a robust, mild steel construction mimicking the concrete shuttering moulds seen on construction sites, maintaining the low carbon footprint. Replicating the essence and vibe of the Asian food markets, the upper floor was divided utilising containers in a similar fashion to the current trendy food truck craze, where colours and themes have been incorporated to mimic the types of food being served within, creating an urban, carnival feel. Adding many levels of private VIP areas to create interest, they provided uninterrupted viewing vantage points, raising the standard of enjoyment! Building on the popular vintage speaker wall, a new retro mobile phone wall has been designed into the scheme and the LSB Brand!
Were there any risks and/or benefits considered in creating this design?
Creating interest throughout the venue and incorporating a design that accommodated broad new portfolio of food offerings, ensuring that all areas were frequented and revenue generating. The larger the space the greater the overhead cost and all areas need to make money! Another thing: finishes that were layered throughout the venue mask the significant contribution made to delivering a current, trendy venue almost exclusively produced from redundant, recycled and re-invented materials. To minimise the carbon footprint, floor levels also used a special lightweight construction form to reduce the depth/volume of concrete needed, saving almost 20m³ of concrete.
Has the new space increased revenue or any other notable avenues?
Revenue potential was maximised by appealing to a wider audience with greater diversity. It was important the design incorporated all the successful elements of the original venue i.e. live entertainment, DJ sound and lighting, pool tables and bar, but also incorporated a range of food experiences in a casual dining theme, an additional dining space overlooking the JBR shoreline and the Dubai Eye, as well as intimate seating areas and three bars to service the larger numbers in the venue.
Further commenting on the positive outcome of the venue, the client Paul Evans, Director of Solutions Leisure Group said “The success of our venues is heavily reliant on the wow factor that our guests feel the second they walk in and Broadway achieves this every time! Chris and his team at Broadway Interiors helped us impress our guests with our unique interiors each and every new venue we open. Like it’s big brother in Barsha Heights, we wanted to retain the second LSB’s successful industrial and raw NYC meat packing district vibe and all the well-loved elements that made it a sensation first time round, in a venue three times the size, whilst upscaling it to include a brand new casual food-focused concept on the 2nd floor. Chris and his team developed the design based on these elements, again recycling redundant materials, turning them into real features. This new branch of our award winning bar brand, has taken JBR’s nightlife scene by storm!”
How has winning INDEX Design Award impacted your business?
The INDEX Design Awards provides a platform for companies to showcase the best of their project portfolio to a wide audience and with the UAE being an extremely competitive and creative market where there is an abundance of innovative projects and very talented designers, getting shortlisted is an achievement in itself. So winning an INDEX Design Award is absolutely incredible as it provides recognition within the industry, with our peers and existing and potential clients alike, but most importantly recognition for the Broadway team and their exceptional talent in producing outstanding designs!
What would you say to others about writing an award-winning entry?
It is really important to read the nomination categories carefully, to understand the requirements for entry and what the judges will be looking for. Once you understand all the requirements, you can then discuss your project portfolio and which projects you believe have the potential to do well, check you have all the material to fulfil the criteria and if not the timeframe you have to collate it for the submission deadline. The judges don’t have the time to visit projects, so you should ensure your submission answers the questions within the required word count and submit high quality photographs that relate to the words you have submitted. It’s like an exam, read it all first and then answer what they ask for!
About INDEX Design Awards
The INDEX Design Awards celebrates innovative interiors projects, the agencies and the people behind them. Open to interior design, architecture and fit-out firms and exceptional out-of-the-box leaders within the design community. It is the central networking event of Middle East Design & Hospitality Week, bringing 350 leaders of the regional design community together to celebrate the most creative and effective work delivered during 2020.
The awards will be held at Dubai World Trade Centre from 7-11 pm on 1st June 2021. The show is sponsored by VitrA (Platinum Sponsor) and Scientechnic Lighting Solutions (Gold Sponsor). For more information and to enter the INDEX Design Awards, go to www.index-awards.com. For entries enquiries, contact: entries@index-awards.com. For sponsorship opportunities, contact: sales@index-awards.com.
BROADWAY INTERIORS REVEAL THE SECRETS BEHIND THE AWARD-WINNING DESIGN
The INDEX Design Award winners for ‘Best Café, Bar or Lounge Design Project’ in 2018, Broadway Interiors talk success and....
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