A closer look inside the theatrical new Gallery restaurant at The Savoy

Walpole: What was your inspiration for the new Gallery restaurant?

Shayne Brady: To reimagine the iconic heritage of the space, but set it firmly in the modern day. This space is the beating heart of the Savoy, and we wanted to be inspired by the past heritage to create a future classic. We delved into the archives of the space and discovered the story of the origin of the dinner dance in this room, when, one evening back in 1912, one daring couple got up to dance together in the small gap between tables during their meal – which would lead to a dancefloor being created in the restaurant amongst the tables. This event became the catalyst for the entire design of the room.

How did you go about updating such a historic space?

The space is heritage listed, so we worked closely with English Heritage to ensure that our renovations respected the heritage, while allowing us to reimagine the space. This meant the panel moulds and columns were all retained, but, for example, the columns were painted burnt sienna to bring drama to the scale of the space.

What are the most significant changes to the space that a visitor will notice?

I think critical to the new design is the walkway through the space that we introduced. Executed in the black and white marble that's synonymous with the Savoy, it ensures guests can move through the Gallery to The River Restaurant and the Beaufort Bar. By doing this, it means the customer journey is seamless and people moving through the space don’t interrupt the flow and energy of Gallery – in fact, the presence of other people actually adds to the theatre of the space. The introduction of a central bar (the room previously had no bar) ensures the space has a focal point. Not only this, but the addition of this means that the restaurant can also become a wonderful cocktail bar by evening after-dinner, elongating the atmosphere in the room and ensuring this space truly does evolve from breakfast to late-night cocktails.

What was the most challenging aspect of the space, and how did you overcome this?

Working in a live hotel environment has definitely been the biggest challenge! Fast-paced on-site with no room for error in a heritage-listed building is always an intense process. Three months from 'hoarding up' to 'hoarding down' just before Christmas was also a huge challenge, but incredible teamwork made it all possible.

What is your favourite detail of the new design?

I was very eager to modernise the wall panels. We could have easily just painted them a nice colour, but I wanted us to be brave and bold. Inspired by the daring dancing couple in 1912 who I mentioned earlier, we reimagined the many wonderful dances that happen here as, almost, shadows or memories on the walls. By painting across the mouldings and being irreverent to the panels, it creates a modernity and a romance within the space. Those shadows dancing create an ethereal romance that has a sense of whimsy – a rose-tinted reflection on the past set firmly in the present day.

You have also designed the spaces for new scone bakery Scoff and the new flower shop. If you had to pick the best design detail in either of these spaces, what would it be?

Scoff is a gorgeous, contemporary space drenched in burnt red to create a modernity and a focus on this amazing new culinary offering by the Savoy. It's an eye-catching design that has its strength in its simplicity with a key focus on the incredible scones. The clock also is a contemporary take on a traditional clock seen in bakeries and pivotal in announcing the  arrival of scones!

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