Carousel Restaurant

“I had to let myself be carried along by the current, without a notion of where it would lead me… All the paths I had been following, all the steps I had taken, were leading back to a single point - namely, to the mid-point… [Origin] is the path to the centre.

(Carl Jung: Memories, Dreams, Reflections, 196)

Recognising the well-known statement, “We have to know the past to understand the present”, the concept of Origin links Carousel’s ever-changing brand with the constant regeneration and revolving nature of the surrounding area of Sand’s End.

The brief for my last project at KLC was to design a restaurant that could display Carousel’s ever-changing line up of experiences. A brand that is a concept itself, no two days are the same for Carousel as they rotate their head chef every two weeks.

To exist within the framework of Imperial Wharf, an area that clashes with the brand’s aesthetic, the concept and design required me to dig deeper and connect both brand and area in a way that would solidify the restaurant’s presence for the foreseeable future.

“our context-led design celebrates the site’s rich heritage and provides a new future for the area”

- james everitt, epr architects

The essence of the concept is to achieve a design that celebrates the history of the area and reiterates the structural forms of the past around which all regeneration is focused. Specifically, it links the Grade II listed Gasholder within the local Gasworks site, around which King’s Road Park is being designed, with the constant nature of the Carousel restaurant building and the whirl of activity that surrounds it.
The design references materials that boldly clash old with new, industrial with luxurious, monochrome and colour – bringing everything together at the centre, to the origin: the kitchen at the heart of the building and business.

Project Renders

I taught myself V-Ray for SketchUp for this project which enabled me to manipulate the interior and exterior lighting to fully convey the concept-led lighting design.