Casual Dining Interior Design Awards finalists announced

Set up to recognise the ground breaking interior design work going on across the casual dining sector, the Casual Dining Design Awards has named its inaugural finalists for 2014.

Reflecting the importance of design in conveying brand identity and enhancing a consumers’ dining experience, these important new awards for casual dining operators will enjoy a prominent showcase at the new Casual Dining trade event, which launches later this month on 26-27 February at the Business Design Centre, London.

Selected interior design projects from forty finalists (listed below) will compete for the top spot in one of the following three award categories – Best Designed Independent Restaurant, Best Designed Multiple Restaurant, and Best Designed Casual Dining Pub.

The event’s organiser, Diversified Communications UK, says the awards present a fantastic opportunity to highlight the creativity of innovative operators and designers, and to celebrate the continuing success of the UK’s £6.7bn casual dining market.

Other announcements today include confirmation of the full judging panel line-up, with leading design commentator David Worthington, chairman of Designersblock and H&M Group, at its helm.  He’ll be joined by Afroditi Krassa, founder of Afroditi Krassa Design, Theo Williams, creative director of Designed and Sourced, and Simon Kincaid, associate director of Conran and Partners.

“Restaurant design today is increasingly about understanding the customer as an individual and creating a comfortable dining experience.  So we are very excited about this year’s Casual Dining trade show,” comments Kincaid.

The Casual Dining Design Awards 2014 finalists are as follows:

Best Designed Independent Restaurant 2014:

• Apero at The Ampersand Hotel, London (Dexter Moren Associates)
• Aqua, Milton Keynes Hub (Simple Simon Design)
• The Breakfast Club, Location:  Battersea Rise, London (Finch Interiors)
• Camino Bar & Restaurant, Blackfriars, London (The Formation Creative Consultants)
• The Club Room, Fredericks Restaurant, Islington, London (Mackenzie Wheeler)
• FerahFeza, Karaköy, Istanbul (I-Am Associates)
• Graze Bar, Brewery & Chophouse, Bath (Simple Simon Design)
• Grillstock Smokehouse, Bristol (Simple Simon Design)
• Hoxley & Porter, Islington, London (KAI Design)
• Le Secret des Rôtisseurs, Canary Wharf, London (design LSM)
  
• Ludlow Kitchen, Ludlow, Shropshire (Catering Design Group)
• Pizza Union, Spitalfields, London (I-AM Associates)
• Poppies of Camden, Camden, London (Avocado Sweets Interior Design Studio)
• River Cottage Canteen, Bristol (Simple Simon Design)
• Rosa Thai Cafe, Ganton Street, London (Buro Creative & Gundry And Ducker)
• Whyte & Brown, Carnaby Stret, London (Blacksheep)

Best Designed Multiple Restaurant 2014:

• ASK Italian, Birmingham (Turner Bates Design & Architecture)
• Burger & Lobster, Knightsbridge, London (design LSM)
• Cabana, Islington, London (Michaelis Boyd Associates)
• Chilango, Leather Lane, London (I-AM Associates)
• Côte Brasserie, Windsor (Robert Angell Design International)
• GBK, Norwich (Fusion Design and Architecture)
• The Happenstance, City of London (Fusion Design & Architecture)
• Hare & Tortoise Restaurant, Kensington, London (Say Architects)
• Jamie’s Trattoria, Richmond, London (Blacksheep)
• Las Iguanas, Wembley, London (B3 Designers)
• Nando’s, St Andrews, Fife (Fusion Design and Architecture)
• Pizza Hut, Crawley (Harrison Design)
• Pizzeria at Everyman Leeds, Leeds (Fusion Design and Architecture)
• Turtle Bay, Bristol (Fusion Design and Architecture)
• Vapiano, Vienna 4 and 5, Austria & Vapiano Belefield and Koblenz, Germany (Mattheo Thun. Milano)
• Wahaca, Waterloo, London (Soft Room)

Best Designed Casual Dining Pub 2014:

• Hall & Woodhouse, Portishead, Somerset (Mackenzie Wheeler)
• No. 11 Pimlico Road, London (BuroCreative/Fusion DNA)
• The Red Hen, Limerick, Ireland (Pub Design Doctor)
• The Wheatsheaf, Farnham, Surrey (Catering Design Group)
• The White Hart, Somerton, Somerset (Mackenzie Wheeler)
• Revolution Parsonage Gardens, Manchester (Julian Taylor Design Associates)
• Revolution Reading, Reading (Julian Taylor Design Associates)

With just over two weeks’ until the show opens, the Casual Dining Design Awards finalists don’t have too long a wait.  Winning entries are to be announced during a dedicated design panel session in the Casual Dining Keynote Theatre on Wednesday 26 February at 2.45pm.  Given such a varied shortlist, this hour-long session (featuring Worthington, Krassa, Williams, and Kincaid) promises plenty of lively debate on emerging trends and best practice in modern casual dining restaurant and pub design.

“Each one of these finalists could be a worthy winner,” says Casual Dining’s event manager Chris Brazier.  “And with such a high quality of entries, it’s going to be tough on our judges.  I for one can’t wait to see who’ll take home the awards.”

Finalist entries will be available to view in the Finalists Awards Gallery at Casual Dining on 26-27 February.

To register for a free trade ticket to visit Casual Dining 2014, please visit www.eventdata.co.uk/Visitor/CasualDining.aspx?AffiliateCode=PR4 or www.casualdiningshow.co.uk (quoting priority code PR4).

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Media enquiries & press pass request to:
Emma-Louise Jones, PR Manager
Editorial representatives of relevant trade and consumer media (including freelancers) are invited to apply for press passes to Casual Dining via email to ejones@divcom.co.uk (please note, additional details may be requested to verify journalistic activity and all press passes are issued at the management’s discretion).
t: +44 (0)1273 645134
e: ejones@divcom.co.uk
Website: www.divcom.co.uk
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=5009585
Twitter: www.twitter.com/DiversifiedUK
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DiversifiedUK

Exhibitor enquiries to:
Chris Brazier, Group Event Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645123
e: cbrazier@divcom.co.uk
Website: www.casualdiningshow.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CasDiningShow