Casson Mann‘s design for Eneko at One Aldwych  has won the award for Best restaurant in a hotel at the 2017 Restaurant & Bar Design Awards. The awards, hotly contested over thirty categories from best restaurant to best Middle Eastern & Aftrican bar, are judged by a team of industry-recognised figures and were presented at King’s Cross Events Space on 6 October.

Casson Mann’s scheme was judged to be the winning scheme from a shortlist of seven entries that included the designs of the new Devonshire Club in London, Rofuta in Birmingham & Refuge in Manchester.

The design of the restaurant necessitated a complete re-think of a difficult space: below ground  in a corner of a large London hotel, with no access to natural light. The scheme created a grand staircase entrance to a mezzanine bar that floated over the restaurant below, giving a sense of spaciousness and airyness to a space that had had little of either before. Casson Mann’s palette of textures and materials reflected the heritage of chef Eneko Atxa’s Basque heritage, using local woods for the tables and ceramics typical of the area for wall claddings.

DHA were engaged to provide the lighting scheme, including elements of concealed lighting so that diners are given the impression of being surrounded by natural light, despite being metres underground. Shane Holland Design was brought on board to create handmade suspended light fixtures over each booth table to a particular design by Casson Mann’s creative director, Roger Mann.