Design Centre Stories

Citrus Bright

Italian restaurant group San Carlo has opened a new London outpost that celebrates the sun-soaked cuisine of Italy’s islands – with bright, fresh interiors by design studio Fettle inspired by some of Sicily’s most famous exports, including lemons, pistachios and prickly pears.

Isola by San Carlo is a two-storey venue that also features a large outdoor dining space, and each has been given its own defining aesthetic. On the ground floor, walls in lemon yellow are contrasted with banquettes upholstered in Brunschwig & Fils’ ‘Audemar Stripe’ fabric in a spring-like green, and a peach and green marble floor; the high-gloss paintwork bounces light and movement around the room. Sicily’s tradition for rattan is evoked in the material chosen for the dining chairs and bar-front, while the scalloped-edge panelling was inspired by furniture found within grand Sicilian homes.

The cosy basement dining area retains the same yellow walls and marble floors as upstairs, with large curved banquettes and chairs upholstered in GP& J Baker fabrics. A tented fabric sits in the ceiling coffers, illuminated around the perimeter to give a sculptural look.

The trims used across the restaurant are from Samuel & Sons and loose cushions in the basement use a fabric from Zimmer + Rohde. Outside on the plant-laden terrace, the external cushions are in a fabric sourced from Abbott + Boyd, and, last but not least, the striped wallpaper that sits above a half-height wall of zellige tiles in the bathrooms is from Cole & Sons.

Photography: Helen Cathcart

Abbott + Boyd. First Floor, North Dome
Brunschwig & Fils, Ground Floor, Design Centre East
Cole & Son, Ground Floor, Centre Dome
GP& J Baker, Ground Floor, Design Centre East
Samuel & Sons, Third Floor, Centre Dome
Zimmer + Rohde, Ground Floor, North Dome

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