The Cafe at Foyles Bookshop
Client: Foyles
Location: London
Size: 600sqm.
Foyles book shop moved in June 2014 from its home at 113-119 Charing Cross Road since 1929 to a new flagship at 107 Charing Cross Road. Our starting point for the cafe design, located at the end of 4 miles of book shelves on the top floor, was to understand what made Foyles existing cafe so loved by their customers. We concluded it was relaxed, mellow in tone and character and to a large degree un-designed.
Working closely with Leafi, who operate the cafe, and Foyles we have created a new cafe which hopefully will be seen as a positive evolution of the old one and will become loved as much as it was by Foyles’ customers and the literary intelligentsia alike.
We have used utilitarian materials, plywood, raw steel and recycled boarding combine with features expressing the art of book making, like type-writer key signage and letter-press embossed panelling.
The gallery, adjacent to the cafe, provides a versatile space for temporary exhibitions throughout the year. Large modular boxes can be arranged into different configurations and used for storage to form a variety of exhibition formats.
Main Contractor Interior Service