From TV cooking competitions to entertaining at home, the modern obsession for achieving culinary mastery continues to grow.
So when the popular Underground Cookery School in London was undergoing a refurbishment designed to bring its aesthetic appeal in line with its reputation for combining an excellent learning and dining experience, DuPont Corian was an obvious choice of surface material.
A premier brand renowned for adding both sophistication and lasting value, Corian has proved its worth over many years internationally, both in private kitchens and public food service environments.
Catering to private groups and corporate clients, the School offers meeting spaces and team-building cookery classes, following which participants sit down together to enjoy the delicious meals they have prepared. Thus the design challenge was to create an interior that was practical, hygienic and robust, while adding an ambience of refined elegance.
Rather than try to compensate, as the previous scheme had done, for the lack of natural light with a clinical all-white look throughout, designer James Plant chose to embrace the atmospheric subterranean location with a darkly glamorous mood in tones of deep blue and green for the dining area.
Lighting therefore became key to the concept. The addition of a dramatic, wave-like10 metre bespoke chandelier style installation works beautifully in combination with Corian for the table tops, which, especially in translucent Arctic White, interacts with the variable illumination to ethereal effect.
The Artic White colour of Corian is made with LightThrough Technology by DuPont, a manufacturing solution which gives the material additional translucency and enables fascinating and illuminating visual and design effects.
Another reason for choosing Corian for this application was to create a contemporary look while also paying homage to the traditional crisp white linen tablecloths of classic fine dining. What’s more, the durability and easy-care of Corian means that this look can be maintained for the long term – all without the hassle of laundry bills.
Adaptability is also a key feature of the design, with sliding wood panelling used to open up or separate certain spaces. Accordingly, the tables can be positioned either as separate working/meeting desks or arranged in long banquet style sections. Their sleek tops take full advantage of the homogeneity and seamless joining capability of Corian making them durable, resistant and easy to clean, while the slender surfaces and slim edge profiles lend a graceful lightness to the design.
James Plant says: “The Underground Cookery School has taken big steps since its inception in 2003 and now serves cuisine more akin to Michelin Star quality than that of a cookery school.
"My vision was to have a softly lit interior for the dining aspect, with bright white tables running down the centre, so the focus remained on the food. Using Corian in Arctic Ice for the table tops in contrast with dark stained oak bases gives the feeling of a floating white surface, on which the colourful dishes would be presented.
“The cookery school often caters to businesses where a meeting may take place beforehand and the contemporary look of the Corian topped tables means it can quickly be adapted from a well-lit group meeting space to an intimate dining experience without the requirement to cover them. The tables coupled with the lighting feature, which is made from 50 individual 3D printed luminaires, really pulled the project together.”
Matthew Kemp, Founder of The Underground Cookery School, comments: “I’m thrilled with the space that James Plant and architect Siri Zanelli have created. The contemporary design will help my business step up a level, and meet our future with unabridged confidence.”
Corian is highly appreciated in hospitality and food service settings, especially in venues where expectations of both performance and style are at the highest level. Its ability to be fabricated in an almost unlimited variety of ways, with renowned service from highly skilled technicians, makes it the ideal partner for brands seeking the refined aesthetic to match a distinctive image.
Corian offers designers a creative freedom that encompasses applications from furniture and worksurfaces to lighting and wall-cladding, with the ability to integrate dramatic decorative effects together with the very latest in wireless, audio-visual and ‘smart’ technology.