Liqui’s award-winning coffee shop design for Artisan in Putney, London was the first coffee shop interior that Liqui’s design consultants undertook and was completed in early 2012.

The brief was to design an entire coffee shop based around Liqui’s Splice Stool. The clients specified a range of furniture and lighting in the Splice range including lampshades, chairs, four-seater tables, and bar stools. They also wanted a complete interior design package to help with continuity in the final look. The great thing about working with such a forward-thinking client means that it allows the design consultants to really work out the finer points; integrating the furniture and lighting with the interior design – making sure the whole thing ties together.

This coffee shop design was a response to several elements. As the client admired the Splice Collection’s rugged industrial good looks Liqui’s designers felt that the interior should also take on an element of the industrial whilst at the same time remain a warm and social environment.

The clever use of materials introduced the industrial aesthetic in the form of exposed red brick walls, corrugated steel, reclaimed scaffolding boards and scaffolding framework to make bar tops and tables – this also satisfied the requirement for an affordable build without any high-cost elements.

The client had also asked for a large-scale lighting installation that would be visible from the road and draw customers in. The challenge was to produce something that tied in with the furniture. To meet these requirements a shade was designed that mirrored the shape of the seat-pan of the ‘Splice Stool’ and thus the ‘Splice Shade’ was born.