Vox pop

Yates, the high street pub company, plans to refurbish as many as 120 bars, its chief executive is insisting that people want ‘huge plasma screens playing Kylie Minogue videos and lots of vodka’. What do you think is the ideal design cocktail for a bar brand of this kind?

‘The solution is bound to be a venue where you phone vote a barman, text an order, listen to cheesy pop, binge on sweet drinks, served by hot-pant clad disco divas, in a high tempo, energy enthused, sexy, wrestling fest, while being filmed and broadcast live across the World Wide Web… well something like that.’

Julian Taylor, Creative director, Julian Taylor Design

Associates

‘People are hungry for fantasy – let’s get hot, take it to the edge, then chill out and indulge. The essence is to create adaptable space to suit mood and time of day – give us action zones and ambient zones, let’s see lighting and interesting media formats creating the right vibe. Put the bar at centre stage and make sure your staff can perform. Who knows – maybe they’ve got more cheek than Kylie.’

Richard Skakel, Managing director, Skakel & Skakel

Design

‘To be honest I think this will make a lot of people very happy. Throw in some dark wood, leather, brushed steel and a cashpoint and they’ll be even happier. Try to avoid any horse brass.’

Hamish Makgill, Partner, Red Design

‘The generalisation of the hospitality desires of young people are driven by statistics. Large breweries and corporations involved in this industry are ideally placed to commission such surveys. The equivalent of a Kylie video in cocktail terms is a Sea Breeze, which has a basic talent but is known to all.’

Paul Daly, Creative director, Paul Daly Design Studio

‘Aha, the “sports bar” ethos: Bacardi coolers, straining black mini skirts and high heels, serious beer guts helpfully fleshing out the David Beckham football strip, some bright colours (well, let’s just stick to red – can’t go far wrong) to help “orientation”, need plenty of easy wash down/low maintenance surfaces, might make it a bit noisy so better put down some dark coloured carpet to help “soak it all up”, best keep the lighting low and avoid mirrors, don’t think I’ll be there.’

James Wells, Partner, Wells Mackereth

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