British Asian Kitchen
Imaginatively designed to reflect the colourful journey of South Asian immigrants into the UK, a new flagship British/Asian restaurant on Kirkstall Road, Leeds.
THE BRIEF
Originally an office which had been extended to accommodate a garage, the new venue has been totally transformed, with initial works comprising of a complete strip-out of the interior to create a blank canvas for the new design concept.
The idea was simple enough. Growing up in an Asian family in Yorkshire, the founders enjoyed everything from karahis to chicken burgers, lassis to lasagne, and samosas to shepherd’s pie, not to mention the occasional jam roly poly or cornflake tart.
With dreams of bringing some fresh thinking to the restaurant world, they thought ‘why not just do what we know and do it really well?’
And this straightforward approach seems to have created quite a storm allowing them to continue to roll out the brand.
THE DESIGN
The interior takes you on a journey from the ‘Colonial’ British rule to the cotton factories of Yorkshire but not forgetting the Lahore roots with the addition of colour and pattern.
The interior also features ‘Datsun Sunny’ booth seating with bucket style seats and headrests, inspired by the 1970’s car interior. Other design features are brass lighting and bobbin fixed seating, the bobbins were to used reflect the cotton reals used in the factories where many south Asian immigrants worked. Twisted flex runs from these seats up to the light fittings, giving the impression of cotton winding out from the bobbins below.
A central column is decorated with bespoke prints commissioned in the style of colourful Pakistani ‘truck art’. Fabric and coloured lighting mimicking the look of bangles pierces the upper floor through a void.
