Cultural Ambiguity: Ikoyi Restaurant in London by Studio David Thulstrup.

With a material palette reduced to its essence, David Thulstrup has designed the new London home for fine dining restaurant Ikoyi. Located within 180 The Strand, the restaurant offers an interior rich in energy, warmth and sensory experiences as the Copenhagen-based designer sought to create a space of drama that feels removed from a specific culture.

Sitting comfortably with the Brutalist character of the landmark London building, Thulstrup likens the overall effect to being inside Iron Man’s glove—energised, warm and cosseted by the hard-edged materials enclosing it.

“For me, this is so much about sense of place because we are in a Brutalist building in the buzzy heart of London, a multicultural city, in a restaurant with a highly evolved cuisine based around British micro-seasonality and intense spices. This idea of intensity and warmth and a sort of cultural ambiguity have been the driving force of the inspiration,” explains Thulstrup.

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The project is an exploration of materiality, finding a balance through contrasts—warm and cold, hard and soft, rigorous straight lines and curves. Oxidised copper sheets finished in beeswax line interior walls and clad the entrance. Huge slabs of Gris Catalan limestone, flamed and brushed to a hammered surface, form a perfect grid on the floors. Crafted stainless steel mesh covers ceilings and curves down to shield windows. Banquettes and wall panels are covered in velvety-soft leather the colour of ginger. British brown oak is used for chunky crafted custom tables and elegant built-in joinery and the open kitchen is completely finished in brushed stainless steel.

“There is no need for ornamentation because there is so much depth to everything. When you see the copper panels up close you see how different the patination is on each one,” elaborates Thulstrup. “Everything has texture, the soft leather, the honed wood, and because of the layering the richness becomes what I deem perfection.”

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[Images courtesy of Studio David Thulstrup. Photography by Irina Boersma.]