H Studio cooks up Law Society restaurant

The Law Society has opened a new restaurant, designed by H Studio. The Six Clerks Restaurant and Bar will serve the society’s members and their guests, as well as ‘social members’ allowed in under a new paid membership scheme.

Although it was located in The Law Society’s distinguished 19th century building on London’s Chancery Lane, H Studio founder James Hodges describes the society’s previous restaurant offering as ‘a cross between a Berni Inn and a Travelodge. It was very middle England, circa the late 1980s,’ he says.

H Studio submitted a creative pitch for the contract with caterer Charlton House in 2006, and was appointed last November.

‘The brief was built around The Law Society’s aspirations to attract a broader selection of people to the restaurant. This was complicated by the fact that The Law Society is essentially a trade association,’ adds Hodges. ‘As with any trade association you have to keep your traditional membershappy while also growing and expanding a new, younger membership.’

‘The previous fit-out masked a lot of original features. However, we did not attempt a massive restoration, deciding instead to move the interior on to create a sophisticated, classy environment appealing to a wide age range.’

H Studio recently refurbished the National Theatre’s Espresso Bar and Lyttleton Café in the Southbank Centre, as well as the Barbican Balcony Bistro. It also created the Revolution Café at London’s Science Museum.

The design consultancy is about to begin work on the graphics for the new restaurant’s menu and marketing materials. The logo will incorporate both The Law Society and the Six Clerks Restaurant branding.