Based in the residential area of Summertown in North Oxford, ThirtyEight is very much part of the local community. People pop in there for coffee in the morning and go for a quick drink after work as well as meeting friends and family for a catch up in the evenings and weekends. When the new owners took over, they wanted us to re-think the whole layout to reflect their new ideas. The whole floor plan was changed so that the new bar became the focus at the entrance and then a kitchen could be installed in the centre.
The colour palette was soft and light to reflect all of the natural light, particularly in the rear conservatory area which was to be used as a small art gallery for local artists. In contrast, we made the toilet area dark and textured with polished concrete vanity units and mock concrete floor tiles.