Materiality plays a key role in balancing the industrial shell with a softer, more residential feel. “The building was so industrial, and we wanted to honour that scale and materiality, rather than disguise it,” Kwong says. Polished concrete floors and structural columns meet limewashed blue walls, graphic wallpaper, double-height wool drapery and plush seating in leather, mohair and velvet, creating a loft-like atmosphere. “The juxtaposition was so fun to play with; the balancing of an industrial space with a residential sensibility.”
Throughout, the focus remains on comfort and mood. “We wanted the space to feel luxurious but deeply comfortable – the kind of place where you’d settle in and lose track of time,” she says. Multiple seating options allow the programming to shift between large group tastings and meetings, always maintaining what Kwong describes as “a sense of intimacy and cosiness, no matter how many people are there”.
