FABLED FOR STYLE
Jamavar is named after the intricate and vibrant 16th century shawls of Kashmir, so it was a fair bet that the restaurant would reflect their intricate patterns and vibrant colours. But London based interior design studio Fabled also took reference from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official home of the President of India and formerly known as the Viceroy’s house, introducing delicate colonial flourishes to create a glamourous British interpretation of the high-end style seen in the group’s Indian sites. We speak to founding partner and Jamavar designer Tom Strother; to read the entire interview visit havwoods.co.uk/jamavar
What first drew you to interior design? I remember when I was a young kid playing at my Granny’s house in Sevenoaks. She had an amazing house, magical for a child, and I often enjoyed making dens out of her furniture. She suggested to me then I ought to be an interior designer and the idea stuck with me. She obviously knew me very well, even at that age. How did you meet partners Steven Saunders and Simon Gallagher and what made you go into business together? I met Steven and Simon when we all worked at David Collins Studio. The three of us worked together in a team and had a great affinity with each other. When we moved on, working together seemed the obvious thing. Of all the projects you have been involved in throughout your career, which are you favourite bits? We’re privileged to have such a variety of projects which have provided a wealth of exciting opportunities, and variety is one of the things we love the most. But some of the recent highlights have been seeing the design of Margot and Jamavar come to fruition. I’m really pleased with how the detailing came together on these. At Fabled you offer furniture design as well as interior architecture, what made you expand down this route? We like to design everything from the architecture down to the smallest detail, and creating bespoke furniture and lighting pieces means that we can create truly unique spaces for our clients which can’t be copied and bought off the shelf. We see you’ve created a space for Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, is this a private dining room? Yes, we were asked to redesign the furniture for the private dining room at Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental for the Fat Duck team. It was an incredible opportunity to create something really unique.
It appears to be a perfect encapsulation of Blumenthal’s personality, but with a nod to history as befits the concept of the restaurant; did he have much involvement? We actually worked closely with Ashley Palmer Watts, Heston’s head chef at Dinner, to create something that personified Heston’s personality and the approach to cooking at Dinner. Each chair features a wood carving of a different character from the ancient cookery books referenced in the dishes at the restaurant. Whereas ‘Ramsay’ is totally different to the perceived character – it’s all sophistication and soft colours – what was the inspiration here? When we designed Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, it was the launch of the restaurant under Chef Patron Claire Smith’s helm. We took inspiration from her approach to her dishes in the approach the design. You specified Havwoods on The Conrad Hotel, Dublin. Was this the first time you had worked with us and what made you choose a Havwoods product? Actually the first time we used Havwoods was for the floor at Beagle. You had a timber floor that resembled small railway sleepers so we used these. It worked very well with the narrative of the design. Since then you have also specified us for Jamavar. This is a splendidly rich design with dining tables designed like chaturanga (ancient Indian chess) boards, rainforest emperador marbles, dark timber panelling and a mirror-embellished bar, but can you tell us a little about some of the details which you feel work particularly well? The design for Jamavar is packed full of details. One of my favourites is the gilded Lincrusta wall coverings we had made. I was also particularly pleased with the bespoke rattan furniture we had made for the restaurant. In Jamavar the floor is really intricate: Versailles panels, marble tiles and Notte planks from the Italian Collection which are laid in an intricate pattern with other materials; can you tell us a little more about how you came up with this idea and was it complex to achieve? Upstairs, the marble chequerboard floor design is a reference to Lutyen’s marble flooring designed for the Viceroy’s House in Delhi. But the concentric timber floor design for the lower ground floor was designed to reflect the ceiling coffers above the floor. These came out really well with the brass trim detail.
Clockwise from top: floor detail at Jamavar featuring Notte from our Italian collection; soft colours and sophistication at Ramsey; Havwoods flooring chosen for the Conrad Hotel, Dublin; one of Tom’s favourite details from Jamavar, London; Havwoods floor resembling small railway sleepers at Beagle; Dinner at the Mandarin Oriental; gilded Lincrusta wall coverings at Jamavar.
As a designer, what is your ultimate ambition? Simple: to create beautiful spaces that stand the test of time.
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