Padella
Shoreditch

The palette was dictated by the raw materials already present: expanses of stainless steel in the open kitchen, concrete walls and ceiling. The task was to find materials that would flatter and harmonise rather than compete. Incorporating the warm tones of classical Italian canteens and the sinuous lines of Riva boats, burgundy, mustard, polished brass and marquetry sit elegantly within the raw shell — a material-led palette that celebrates the building’s industrial bones while softening them with craft and warmth.

The marquetry logo — a classical woodworking technique reinvented by skilled craftspeople — is the room’s most singular detail. It sits within the raw concrete with a quiet confidence that characterises the best bespoke interior architecture: something so specific to this space that it could only have been made for it. All materials were selected to age well — a sustainable hospitality interior design philosophy. Lisa Helmanis paid close attention to the practical details of service flow that matter to a working team.

The space planning across four zones gives the room a genuine range of registers — the immediacy of the counter, the sociability of the window dining, the warmth of the central banquettes. The lighting design responds differently across each zone, making the double-height shell feel intimate rather than vast. The atmospheric, experiential dining interior shifts convincingly from a weekday lunch to a Friday evening without a single intervention.

Padella Shoreditch won European Restaurant of the Year at the International Hotel & Property Awards 2020 — recognition for a room that proves the most demanding brief, executed with genuine rigour, produces something that lasts.