Mulberry & Prince Cape Town by Atelier Interiors.

Atelier Interiors have designed Mulberry & Prince – a white-wash restaurant and bar in Cape Town, South Africa. To compliment the modern style of the share-cuisine served at the restaurant, the designers set out to create a space of understated elegance. The colour palette inspiration came from the work of Australian ceramicists Studio Twocan, resulting in a scheme of dusty pink (accent colour), charcoal (slate bar), white (floor and walls) and terracotta (existing stone walls and new copper tables). In addition, the designers used stained glass, lush velvets and an eclectic mix of custom and modernist furniture within the white, gallery-like setting, to create a French retro-chic feel. “Cape Town-based artist, Kurt Pio, helped us finish the space off beautifully with his modern bespoke artwork,” explain the designers.

Most of the elements were designed specifically for the restaurant. “Besides Kurt, we got to work with some really talented local designers, such as Conrad Van der Westhuizen who helped us bring our vision for the lighting, copper tables and stained glass features to life. We tried to use as many local suppliers and manufacturers as possible. The marble and timber tables are manufactured by Pedersen and Lennard and the leather and steel barstools by Stokperd – both Cape Town based.”

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The stained glass was an integral part of Atelier Interiors‘ French-retro vision for Mulberry & Prince. “We wanted to move away from your traditional bar backing with lots of bottles. We felt that the stained glass and metal (beaten copper and brass panels) would really add some understated glamour, and be in keeping with the style of cuisine the chefs were going for. Conrad built the structure for us – it was quite the process to get made, but we were very happy with the end result.”

Another interesting feature is the bar front clad in natural slate. Slate was chosen as a way of grounding the sleek white shell with accents of pastel colour. “We also wanted [the slate] to be roughly hewn rather than the more ultra modern, sleek finish you get from engineered stone. Unfortunately the natural slate slab sizes we could find locally were very limited. Rather than giving up, we decided to use this to our advantage, playing with the pieces of stone in a puzzle like fashion. Instead of hiding the unusual grouting lines we enhanced them with the Japanese art of Kintsukuroi – to repair with gold.”