Eoin Lyons asks an interior designer to review the interior of the newly opened Lobby Bar in Dublin
The Lobby Bar opened a few weeks ago on Harcourt Street, part of a reinvention of the POD nightclub that includes Crawdaddy, a music venue. British designer Andy Martin - whose other projects have included Irish entrepreneur Oliver Peyton's Isola and Mash restaurants in London - has decorated both. We asked interior designer Alyson Bailey to visit The Lobby Bar and give an opinion about its design.
Bailey lives in Killiney and apart from domestic and commercial work, has contributed to Image Interiors. She admires architecture as diverse as the Ste Chapelle in Paris and the TWA terminal at JFK, which we hope makes her a good choice to look at The Lobby Bar, where the furniture is eclectic, to say the least.
The first thing she notices is a high floating bar near the entrance. "It's veneered in cork which is quite clever - an imaginative twist to a material that isn't particularly fashionable. The interior architecture is well done, particularly the curves of white plaster walls to the front - a nice soft shape in contrast to the rough stone arching walls. There's a sense of being on stage here, which may be something to do with the seating - you tend to face other people - but it might be difficult with a large group as you're limited to where you could all sit together."
The furniture includes large curl-up sofas, carved Eastern-looking wood stools, high metallic chairs and 1970s abstract prints. "In my opinion, successful eclecticism is where one thing stands out from a group of different types of furniture," says Bailey, "but here there are so many disparate elements, nothing stands out. The shapes are all very different and there are so many materials - leather, metal, wood and cowhide - that a bit of restraint might have worked better. I love the blue wall at one end and the idea of upholstering the chaise longue that sits against it in the same colour, but perhaps a different piece of furniture would have been more striking."
Above the entrance is a small seating area with windows looking out onto the Luas line on Harcourt Street - "a nice place to sit with a small group". It also looks out onto an outdoor seating area, not yet completed. "This could make or break it," says Bailey. "It will really draw people in, if done well."
While she thinks the Lobby Bar does have its good points, in the end, Bailey is less than crazy about the overall effect. "It looks like interior design by committee: a bit of everything but no strong guiding hand." Go yourself and see if you agree.
The Lobby Bar, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2 (01-4189140)
CUTTING EDGE
Despite the success of John Rocha's designs, twenty and thirty somethings haven't really grown up with Waterford Crystal and don't always see the appeal of fussy cuts. It's not surprising, then, that the recent launch of new Waterford products featured items that are different. Colour is introduced for the first time: bowls and vases in solid purple, turquoise and smoke along with red-tinted wine glasses. Three things we liked most were coloured bowls for €325, vases for €225 and clear small rectangular nightlight holders for €60. Given that the new range is aimed at a hipper customer, what would fashion stylist Niamh O'Rourke - who decorated the launch - buy herself? "I really liked the vintage-looking goblets with a red fading to clear glass. You can get less expensive coloured glass but these are lovely to hold and drink from."
TRADING UP
The long-established Enniskerry Trading Company has undergone a revamp. "We've moved away from the rustic look toward something more elegant," says co-owner Mary Tiernan. It still caters for those who like a natural look, but the tiny shop holds more European products than before, all with a more classic bent. Perhaps the best reason to visit is for tableware, particularly chunky Belgian glassware, raw linen tablecloths and cutlery with country-style handles. Prices are mid range: there are pretty frosted glass bowls from €10, big old Chinese trunks from €250 and indoor copper planters in oval, square and butter urn shapes from €20. A good new restaurant called Amelia provides a handy stop-off point when you visit. Enniskerry Trading Company, The Square, Enniskerry (01-2866275).
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL
The new Miele kitchen showroom off Sir John Rogerson's Quay has half a dozen kitchen set-ups by the German company known for high quality and high prices. Although it's possible to have a Miele kitchen for €13,000 (small, mind), they really start at about €18,000 and you will need to spend between €25,000 and €35,000 for anything approaching the works. Miele has the look of the moment down pat: slender glass bar handles, stainless steel splashbacks and units that are raised from the floor as if on freestanding legs. Bulthaup, another German kitchen manufacturer, started this freestanding trend, and it works, making the floor seem larger because you see more of it. But Miele is perhaps friendlier and easier to live with than austere competitors because of the way soft materials are mixed with hard: white laminate is paired with wood and solid walnut strips with matt-antiqued granite (shiny granite worktops seem to be passé). What this kind of money buys is the perfection of finish, not to mention the satisfying swooshing of gliding drawers. Miele at Arena Kitchen Architecture, 3-4 Cardiff Lane, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2 (01-6715365).