Located in the heart of Saudi Arabia, this overseas project saw us working with the global restaurant chain San Carlo as they opened a new restaurant in Khobar. And with an expansive interior space, high ceilings, and cool marble floors, much of the design work went into creating an intimate dining setting which heralded the brand while optimising the flow of movement across the restaurant floor for guests and service staff alike.
With an emphasis on good, authentic Italian food, the aim was for this restaurant to exude a warm and welcoming aesthetic but with the kind of style which managed to be modern and on-trend at the same time. As such, we used plenty of natural wood in the design of the space, juxtaposing wooden features with the shutter-material pillars all painted and finished in a soft sage green for a pop of subtle colour.
Hanging lots of greenery from the ceiling, we maximised the impact of the high ceilings while again integrating that warm and cosy feeling, with white marble tables and oversized booths all helping to separate the vast open plan room into a series of smaller dining areas and spaces for guests to enjoy.
A vast feature wall with plant-inspired wallpaper sits behind the booths, with mirrors mounted on the walls to maximise the flow of light around the space, coming from the large window situated along the back wall of the restaurant. In terms of the layout itself, our team decided to keep the restaurant interior design as simple as possible in terms of table placement – factoring in only a few pillars and features in the form of the potted plants, a welcome desk, and the kitchen. The kitchen sits behind a glass panel wall which allows food preparation to become part and parcel of the dining experience together with tapping into the desire to emanate authentic Italian home cooking within a stylish and modern setting.
This was an exciting project which fused modern simplicity together with small features and details, aligning the restaurant with its origin as an authentic Italian brand.
