August 6, 2019

Text: Jesse Dorris

BradyWilliams’s Design for Bob Bob Cité in London is Out of This World

The interior of Bob Bob Cité is delineated by ticker tape, in a nod to the nearby stock market. Photography courtesy of BradyWilliams.

London is no stranger to luxury (or eccentricity), but one of the newest arrivals on the city’s hospitality scene has still managed to create quite the buzz. Bob Bob Cité, an upscale brasserie suspended almost 100 feet above the atrium of Rogers Stark Harbour + Partners’ Leadenhall Building, is the latest venture from Leonid Shutov, best known for his beloved Bob Bob Ricard in Soho. With interiors courtesy of Shayne Brady, who co-founded London-based BradyWilliams with Emily Williams, the restaurant is part cruise ship casino, part retro-futuristic diner, and utterly out of this world.

The team designing Bob Bob Cité conceived grids of vertical columns and beams for the open ceilings, clad in rosewood panels and mirror-polished stainless steel. Photography courtesy of BradyWilliams.

“In many ways, the design pushes the notion of good taste,” Brady says, “with a language that is definitive, distinguished, and truly unique.” A bar lounge joins red and blue dining rooms with 264 covers; three private dining rooms include anterooms for pre-nosh hobnobbing.

Rosewood marquetry throughout was crafted by Stan Tarver off-site and installed as complete pieces, while royal warrant-holders Dernier & Hamlyn conceived 800 bespoke light fittings, including 24 chandeliers to illuminate the 7.7 miles of mirror-polish steel trim held in place by 48,000 hand-polished “snake eye” bolts.

In Bob Bob Cité’s private red dining room, the shape of the custom Figueras chairs echoes the Japanese book-binding paper along the walls. Photography courtesy of BradyWilliams.

The love-it-or-loathe-it design might account for the buzz, but another suspect just might be the “Press for Champagne” button, which delivers the French libation with a single touch.

In the red dining room, Andrew Muirhead & Son supplied the custom-colored leather for the banquettes by Noble Russell, which coordinate with the custom Durat tables; floors are a mix of engineered stone and Strata tiles. Photography courtesy of BradyWilliams.
In the red dining room’s antechamber, a decanting area stands ready before artwork by Supermundane’s Rob Lowe, illuminated by a Dernier & Hamlyn sconce. Photography courtesy of BradyWilliams.

Reception desks are by Durat in custom colors and gold mirror; Stan Tarver created the feature panels, which were cast in liquid metal by Supermundane. Photography courtesy of BradyWilliams.
Bob Bob Cité’s blue private dining room is one of three, which each can host up to 18 guests. Photography courtesy of BradyWilliams.

Read more: Waldo Works Designs Wartski’s New London Boutique Using the Golden Ratio

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