Tag: the vaults parlour

We are all over the moon at Kingston Lafferty Design this week. Our Vaults Parlour project has won a prestigious award at Restaurant & Bar Design Awards in London.

Our design won in the international and highly competitive category called In Another Space. The award celebrates restaurants, bars or cafés that are In Another Space, in this case The Vaults Live in Dublin.

The Vaults Parlour was the only nominated Irish project in this year’s awards and we found ourselves in a David and Goliath scenario, competing alongside more high-profile design projects with larger budgets. However, the omens were good with creative director Róisín Lafferty and associate director Becky Russell collecting the coveted prize.

It is the second year in a row that KLD have won at the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards, having won last year for our Pot Bellied Pig Design.

The Vaults Live is an innovative and theatrical large-scale tourist attraction located in the heart of Dublin City, offering a unique and exhilarating tour and experience by taking the visitor on a journey throughout the most scandalous and exciting tales of Irish history in a stunningly renovated original 4 storey Victorian building. The experience includes stunning 360° sets, state of the art lighting, lavish costumes and special effects. We were contacted by the client midway through the overall development of the Vaults Live to design a café parlour and retail space that visitors are brought into at the end of the one-hour experience.

Space was a combination of the original building and a new irregularly curved contemporary extension, providing a mixed style foundation to work with. We needed to marry old Victorian vaults with new extension while maintaining character and cohesion.

KLD embraced whimsy, playfulness and timelessness by juxtaposing old and new. The redbrick walls of the original arches frame the space beautifully while the white cabinetry exudes luxury. The chequered floor of the café contrasts beautifully with poured concrete flooring of retail display area while the bespoke banquette seating provides luxurious comfort while the wallpaper adds a homely and rustic feel.

The Vaults Parlour had previously been named Best Fit Out – Retail at Fit Out Awards 2018.

Further information and photographs are available at our Vaults Parlour project page

Kingston Lafferty Design are delighted to present the before and after video of  our award-winning The Vaults Parlour. The Vaults Parlour is part of The Vaults Live experience.

To find out more about our Vaults Parlour project check out The Vaults Parlour Project page.

The Vaults Parlour wins Fit Out Project of the Year – Retail.

Vaults Parlour Photos: Barbara Corsico

The Vaults Live is an innovative and theatrical large-scale tourist attraction located in the heart of Dublin City, offering a unique and exhilarating tour and experience by taking the visitor on a journey throughout the most scandalous and exciting tales of Irish history in a stunningly renovated original 4 storey Victorian building. The experience includes stunning 360° sets, state of the art lighting, lavish costumes and special effects. We were contacted by the client midway through the overall development of the Vaults Live to design a café parlour and retail space that visitors are brought into at the end of the one-hour experience.

We were appointed to take a creative and inventive approach when designing both the café and retail spaces, continuing the overall immersive theatrical experience whilst delivering a fully considered and highly operational F&B and retail aspect to the business.

The last set from the tour is with Molly Malone. We wanted to carry on a narrative from that experience and era, opting to create a lavish and indulgent parlour. With influence from the classic parlour room, we studied and researched Irish examples, wallpapers, furniture, fixtures and fittings, textiles and artwork from the Victorian era before seeking to merge the traditional with contrasting sleek, contemporary elements.

Taking on board the Vaults new mascot, the Irish Hare, we sought to create a fun and playful space. We designed the suspended ceiling to house rabbit holes appearing to have grasses growing from them. We altered the roof light to create a tunnel effect to the sky and another to have inset mirror reflecting the Alice in Wonderland inspired chequered floor. The aim was to encourage interaction and imagination in the visitor.

We sought to fully immerse visitors of all ages in a magical, whimsical environment, encouraging further interaction and engagement and essentially encouraging them to spend more time within the building

We believe we have executed one of our most beautiful creations to date. Inspired by Alice in Wonderland we embraced whimsy, playfulness and timelessness by juxtaposing old and new. The white cabinetry feels luxurious while the redbrick walls of the arches frames the space beautifully. The Alice in Wonderland inspired black and white chequered wooden floor of the café area contrasts beautifully with the poured concrete flooring of the retail display area. The banquette seating provides luxurious comfort while the wall paper adds a homely and rustic feel. It is a feast for the senses and embraces the themes and immersive nature of the Vaults Live experience.

The Vintage Hub

Here is a short video of Róisin and Becky at the Vintage Hub to gather the beautiful items to style the Vaults to perfection. See if you can spot some of the items from above.

And the winner is The Vaults:

And so to the awards on 1 November. We are super excited and thrilled to have won this auspicious award. We have tremendous fondness and respect for the Fit Out Awards, it is the best recognition and celebration there is in Ireland for all the work that goes on throughout the year. The black tie adds that extra bit of class, as did the beautiful meal with all the trimmings. We really did have a wonderful night meeting old and making new friends.

And so it came to our award. To say we were thrilled when we heard The Vaults call out would be an understatement. It never gets old. Our thanks goes to Colin Quinn and all at NSBS, our fit out partners on this project, in particular Gareth Johnson who project managed the fit out. Also immense thanks to The Vintage Hub whose treasures adorn the space, which helped create the whimsical, magical space we set out to achieve.

It has been an incredible year for Kingston Lafferty Design and this Fit Out Award for The Vaults Parlour truly tops it off. We are honoured and humbled with this recognition. But we are not going to rest on our laurels. We are already looking forward to a busy, exciting and rewarding 2019.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees and to the Fit Out Awards for putting on a great ceremony. See you in 2019.