Spatial Design

Project, Art Bar, Royal College of Art, Kensington, London

Designers, Lucy Sanderson, Christina Huber, Tiphaine Dugast

Art Bar, Royal College of Art was designed by repurposing concrete slabs, zinc plated black passivate finish metal bars, larch parqueted flooring, mirror, oak veneer paneling and solid oak furniture are used in their simplicity and joined visually by a second element of corruption. We approached this project with an investigative eye, gathering light, memory and materiality. It was important that the bar remained an atmospheric space but a backdrop for encounters and conversation. The concept was lead to emphasis each material by it’s singularity that whispers through the overall design; the volume of the cast concrete slabs, the strong lines, large mass of square larch parquetted flooring and structural function of the zinc plated black passivate finish metal bars zinc to work intuitively through the method of corruption, penetration and assembled to initiate new conversation to make them our own.

As part of the brief we hosted a 4-day seat-making workshop exploring gesture and materiality open to the entire college. We invited William Russell,(Architect, Pentagram) John Booth (Fashion Illustrator, Ceramicist, Textile Designer) and Patrick Healey (Sociologist, Professor of Human Interaction) to discuss how they explore gesture and materiality in their diverse practice. The outcome was that each seat had to made from piled timber and larch to create a family of products. 

The Artbar is a an experimental project that represents the RCA’s unique environment of being the only postgraduate college where students spend two years investigating, experimenting and delving deep into their desired discipline. 

For more info: www.rcaartbar.tumblr.com