1st March 2018

Building on the sun: Sella Concept designs Omar’s Place

Omar Shabaan is no stranger to the restaurant business – he’s something of a mover and shaker on the Egyptian hospitality scene. But January 2018 is set to be one of the most important of his life, as it marks the official opening of his passion project: Omar’s Place in Pimlico – a gourmet tour of the Mediterranean and a convivial cocktail bar all wrapped up in one restaurant.

Any seasoned restaurateur can tell you that design can make or break a venue. You can have the most gifted chef in the kitchen and a cellar stuffed with the finest wines, but if your surroundings are drab and your atmosphere non-existent, you’ll be gone in six months.

Gayle Noonan and Tatjana von Stein therefore have quite a responsibility on their shoulders. Their studio, Sella Concept, landed the plum but risky job of designing the identity and interiors for the whole caboodle, from the banquettes to the business cards.

Photography by Nicholas Worley.

Given their track record in the short time Sella Concept has been up and sketching (of their work on Zetteler stomping ground De Beauvoir Block), Omar’s in good hands. From the empty shell of a Victorian corner pub, they’ve conjured a warm and welcoming hangout, full of curves and contours inspired by the shape of the Mediterranean sun and the colours of the Mediterranean earth – exactly the sort of place you can imagine losing an evening in over a few plates of tapas and a few more glasses of Rioja.

Although the sharp-eyed and design-savvy will doubtless clock the Carl Hansen dining chairs, D’Armes wall lamps and the Rombini tiles that the Bouroullec brothers created for Mutini, most of the design work has been developed bespoke for Omar’s Place by Sella Concept – including the strikingly textured sculptural wall pieces and those striking rusty suede tubular banquettes that weave their way around the restaurant.

We got a behind-the-scenes lowdown from Sella Concept’s Gayle on how they went about translating Omar’s dream into a boldly coloured, beautifully textured reality…

Photography by Nicholas Worley.

‘Omar comes from a long line of restaurateurs and hoteliers in Egypt and is now setting up on his own in London for the first time. He is a fine connoisseur of food, wine and whisky, a long-standing customer of many London restaurants and a fantastic entertainer. You roll home after any time spent with him.

We met him once he had already acquired the property in Pimlico and decided on the name. From there, we spent a lot of time together to get to know him and what Omar's Place was going to become. He soon gave us creative carte blanche for the restaurant branding and full interior refurb.

We collaborated with our friends at architecture studio Wilson Holloway on the project. We designed every element and they did all the planning and technical support behind the refurbishment the pub. We started with our ideal floorplan and worked all the moving parts back into it to find a solution that made things work operationally while sustaining the feeling we were looking to create. It's a constant balancing act, and a lot of problem solving.'

Photography by Nicholas Worley.

'Our concept is synergistic in terms of the branding identity and interiors. In Mediterranean countries, so much revolves around the sun – from kitchen ingredients to the experience and lifestyle in the region. This became the central element of our design, and coupled with Omar's Egyptian background, the sun and circle influenced many features within the restaurant design and branding collateral: fluted banquettes, concave Sapele wood slats, curved edges and joinery, a curved bar – anything we could get our hands on really.

Another layer is the personality of the brand – a local bar-restaurant and an intimate host balanced with the elegance and refinement of contemporary and inventive Mediterranean cuisine. We worked with a base of earthy colours and textures nodding to the Mediterranean background. We’ve reflected this through our choice of materials: the natural, organic feel of wood, plaster walls, Corten steel and an organic colour scheme with beautiful terrazzo, brass, velvet and mirror finishes. We also designed some sculpture-like wall pieces tying in all these materials. As a whole, the space is textured, warm and full of movement.’

Photography by Nicholas Worley.

Omar’s Place (51 Hugh Street, Pimlico, London SW1V 4HP) soft launched on 19th February and officially opens on 26th March. Check out the website here.