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Delivering fine dining within a thriving office environment was the key objective within our latest turnkey restaurant refurbishment project at Pictet Asset Management, in the heart of London’s bustling finance centre.

Pictet Asset Management, founded in 1825, is one of the UK’s longest running asset management firms with over 4,000 people employees in Europe and Asia.

Part of the wider office redevelopment, the designers at ifse worked in partnership with the on-site catering team and the main contractor team, awarded the office refurbishment, to design, build and fit out the new ‘Gallery’ restaurant. The restaurant would now overlook the famous Gherkin building and skyscrapers of Bishopsgate; where the team at ifse also designed and fitted-out the 1923 restaurant within the Gherkin building for Swiss Re.

The Main Restaurant

What was once office space and filing cabinets, was transformed into a bright and airy restaurant with industry accredited chefs serving high quality, fresh food at breakfast, lunch and evening meals.

The team at ifse designed a clean, linear servery counter with reclaimed dark wood panels which were highlighted by the grey tile effect from behind and the black gantry above. The gantry would showcase cookbooks, recipes and ornaments to give the area a home-like depth.

With the focus on delivering high quality gourmet food, the design team incorporated an Electrolux Libero mobile cooking suit into the counter. The Libero unit gave the chefs the option to fry, grill or perfect the meals in front of the customer adding to the luxury experience.

The Electrolux SpeeDelight was also installed into the design for paninis, pizza, sandwiches and other toasted grab and go items for customers looking for a quick bite. SpeeDelight creates Chef-worthy snacks in a compact shell, thanks to the combination of 3 cooking technologies: contact plates, infrared radiation and microwaves meaning your food is crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked inside. Learn more here.

Adding to the relaxed environment, leather bucket chairs surrounded the seating area, which allowed for employees, customers or clients to relax with a coffee whilst overlooking the London skyline.

Mobile Salad Bar

The new restaurant also featured a mobile salad bar that could convert into a champagne cooler for evening events. The mobility of the salad bar was important as the client wanted the ability to wheel away the unit, for a screen that would drop from the ceiling for corporate events. The design of the mobile counter matched the reclaimed wood frontage with Corian counter tops.

The Coffee Shop

The final area to be completed was the coffee shop with its own seating/break out area. Plant pots acted as the centre piece on every table to enhance the funky vibe. The reclaimed wood carried from the main restaurant on the front of the counters.