Dixon and Farrow work Inn The Park

Tom Dixon and Farrow Design are collaborating on the design of Oliver Peyton’s latest restaurant venture, Inn The Park, which opens in April in the grounds of London’s St James’s Park.

Housed in a building designed by Hopkins Architects, the scheme is Dixon’s first interiors project. Farrow Design is responsible for the identity and print material.

Peyton describes Inn The Park as ‘a showcase for British food’. Located west of Horse Guards Parade, it will be a ‘relaxed British café that evolves into a restaurant in the evening’, he adds.

According to a spokesman for The Royal Parks, the contemporary building features a ‘grass covered roof’ to allow an uninterrupted view of the park’s lake; ‘living sculptures’ and benches; windows running the length of the façade; and a patio area for outside dining.

Dixon says he was briefed to create interiors that capture the spirit of civic pride inherent in Victorian-era public projects, yet adaptable enough to serve both as a functional café and a more ‘romantic’ evening experience.

The concept uses leather, marble and bronze, designed to ‘improve with age’, adds Dixon.

‘The design references come from its Royal Park location,’ he says. ‘It’s a long lasting, quality aesthetic, restrained in a way, designed to act as a backdrop to the food offer.’

Farrow Design creative director Mark Farrow says the identity was created to be adaptable across many applications, from packaging to picnic rugs and signage.