The Brass Rail goes back to the future

Selfridges has relaunched its Oxford Street store’s salt beef restaurant The Brass Rail, with a fresh identity and packaging by in-house creative director Alannah Weston and her team and interiors by architect Michaelis Boyd.

The restaurant will move from the men’s accessories and wine department to the food hall as part of a £10m revamp of the store’s ground floor, understood to be designed by Tokyo-based architect Klein Dytham Architecture.

The Brass Rail will feature a new logo, also designed by the in-house team – a pink R with a stripe down the left hand side – which will appear on its sign and all packaging. This includes paper cups, soup containers and brown paper bags.

According to Selfridges’ head of graphics Ashleigh Vinall, the team created a logo that intends to look both nostalgic and contemporary. She says, ‘We wanted to acknowledge the restaurant’s previous guises. Therefore, the icon has been transformed into a large neon sign on the restaurant’s feature wall to echo the original signage.’

A fresh interior has been designed by Michaelis Boyd. It was appointed following a pitch to take in the original feel of the 1930s US diner and deli, but giving it a contemporary twist. The design features glass lights, a pewter bar, traditional pink stools and an oak floor.

Michaelis Boyd founder Alex Michaelis says, ‘The lights are the main feature. You can see them really well throughout the store and the outside. The stools are pink, as is the logo.’

Last month, Cartlidge Levene unveiled a wayfinding and signage system for the store.

Later this year the ground floor will be turned into a ‘Room of Wonder’, which will sell products including jewellery, watches and flowers.