Studio Mad to design Wright Brothers Soho outpost

Wright Brothers, which owns an oyster farm in Cornwall and supplies fish wholesale to London restaurants, appointed Studio Mad a year ago without a pitch, on the strength of work by the architecture and interior design group on its Borough Market restaurant, the Wright Brothers Oyster & Porter House, which opened in 2005.

Studio Mad is collaborating with Wright Brothers proprietors Ben Wright and Robin Hancock on the interiors, which are intended to evoke the atmosphere of an 18th century oyster bar. ’We don’t want to overcook the interior, but we want to be as Dickensian as we can,’ says Wright Brothers operations manager Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim.

Arranged over three floors, the 120-seat restaurant will feature a basement dining area and a top gallery level that will be more ’romantic and comfortable’, according to Studio Mad director Mike Arthur. The interiors will feature bare brick walls, bespoke button banquettes and counter-dining.

’We don’t want the interior to look like it dropped out of a brand manual, so it will be an eclectic mix of things that look like they have been layered on over time,’ says Arthur. The architect brought lighting design consultancy Gravity Design on board, briefing the group to create a low-tech lighting scheme.

’Gravity is more used to doing upmarket Conran restaurants, but there will be no effect lighting here, it will be about physical light fittings with lamps,’ says Arthur. Someone is designing a 2-3m2 seafood-themed mosaic for either the Soho or the Borough Market restaurant’s floor. It has not yet been decided which outlet it will be installed in.

The consultancy is working with mosaic artist Gary Drostle on the project. Mosaic tiles inspired the new branding and identity for Wright Brothers, which is being applied across the Wright Brothers’ portfolio of ventures, including the Duchy Oyster Farm, the Wright Brothers Oyster & Porter House, The Ferry Boat Inn in Cornwall and its events catering arm.