Real Studios overhauls Babylon restaurant

Real Studios has created a new look for Babylon, the seventh-floor restaurant in Kensington Roof Gardens on London’s Kensington High Street, W8.

The consultancy, which was appointed at the end of last year following work it had done on the sixth-floor nightclub at the gardens, has created a new interior reminiscent of fashion brand Biba, which occupied the building in the 1970s.

Real Studios director Yvonne Golds says, ‘Our aim was to update the restaurant and create an additional wow-factor.’

A reception area will feature a large black-and-white photograph of Biba founder Barbara Hulanicki standing in the roof gardens surrounded by her beloved pink flamingos (ancestors of current residents Bill and Ben).

Golds says, ‘There were already Biba images being used in the roof gardens, so our use of them as a graphic application in the restaurant provides an additional link to the gardens.’

Babylon’s signature fish tanks have been moved from the lounge to the men’s and women’s bathrooms, where they will act as a view-through partition.

Babylon, which is part of Virgin Limited Edition, Sir Richard Branson’s private collection of retreats, will open in its new guise on 10 November.