Pictured above: John Macaulay and Mike
Sinclair
Macaulay Sinclair, the Nottingham-based firm of interior
architects, has won a major award for its design of a beach-side
restaurant and bar overlooking Europe's first artificial surf
reef.
At the prestigious 2010 Restaurant and Bar Design Awards, the
company took the best 'Restaurant, Bar or Club in another space'
for Urban Reef - an eatery the company designed in Boscombe Bay,
Dorset.
Directors John Macaulay and Mike Sinclair were at Victoria House
in London to receive the accolade, beating off stiff competition
from other influential UK designers.
John said: "It was brilliant to take this award. Urban Reef had
a demanding brief. We had to knit together four very different
paced offerings - bar, deli, restaurant and café, as well as
an external terrace - in a way which was ecologically sustainable
and cost effective."
In its second year, the Restaurant and Bar Design Awards is
totally Independent and exclusively recognises restaurant and
bar design excellence.
Macaulay Sinclair, based in the Lacemarket, has designed
multi-million pound ventures all over the UK including Bluu and
Pitcher and Piano, working for the nationally renowned The Curious
Group of Hotels and super-brewery Marstons.
John and Mike, who studied interior architecture at Nottingham
Trent University, say while they continue to work across the
Midlands and the North West, they are gaining impressive contracts
in London.
This year sees the unveiling of designs for much-talked about
restaurants Hawksmoor and Inamo. Macaulay Sinclair is creating two
Central London sites for Hawksmoor, which describes itself as a
"British Steakhouse" - and a much awaited site for Inamo "a
pan-Asian interactive restaurant."
"Despite the downturn, Macaulay Sinclair has continued to thrive
- and gain some excellent projects all over the UK," said Mike.
"While certain areas of the hospitality industry have been
massively affected by the credit crunch with pubs in decline and
problems for drinks-led companies, we are finding that firms are
still investing in food-led operations.
"We are seeing that the main growth area at the moment, despite
the credit crunch and decline in businesses overall, is the premium
casual dining market. So much so, that the big pub groups which
have been predominantly wet sales driven, have acquired small hotel
chains or are investing in restaurant groups."