048 FOCUS
Q&A Ewald Damen
Virgile + Partners
Creative change has been picking up pace since the pandemic. Ewald Damen, creative director at Virgile + Partners, says that clients’ understanding of factors such as sustainability, community, ethics, digital integration and entertainment have accelerated exponentially…
Please tell us a little about the Virgile + Partners’ story, its involvement in bar and restaurant design and what your own role within the business entails?
Established in 1990, Virgile + Partners is a retail, hotel and restaurant design specialist. Over the years, we have gained a strong reputation for our bar and restaurant design and have had the privilege of working on exciting projects with well-known global brands. T ese include the Bang Bar in Bangalore, T e Square in London, T e Apartment at the Address in Dubai, the Wallpaper* bar in London and, as part of the Andaz in Delhi, we have also developed the concepts for the Annamaya food market and the specialist Hong Kong Club.
Since I joined almost 14 years ago, my role has grown to become the creative director, managing the team across all projects. I work closely with our designers and our clients to ensure our joint vision and solutions are developed into a bespoke and memorable, yet practical and functional design, from concept to execution.
‘The pandemic may have left traces of considerations in requirements and expectations, but it has accelerated certain trends that were already in the picture before, which have now gained much larger importance’
How has the nature of projects in the F&B sector changed post-pandemic?
Guest and customer expectations have changed, and whilst at least some parts of the post-pandemic world seem to have returned to business as before, there are notable diff erences. T e pandemic may have left traces of considerations in requirements and expectations, but it has accelerated certain trends that were already in the picture before, which have now gained much larger importance. Sustainability, community, ethics, local, digital integration, entertainment, and experience are trends we see expressed much more in clients’ briefi ngs for our projects since Covid appeared. A greater view of what the future will lead us towards seems more part of the bigger picture and thinking now.
Can you tell us about the creative vision and process for the Hong Kong Club and where it came from? T e Hong Kong Club is part of the Andaz New Delhi, a large format boutique hotel. Although it is part of this hotel, the restaurant and concept are very much a stand-alone vision, creating a real destination that should attract not only guests, but also fashionable locals of New Delhi as their favourite new hang out. T e brief was to create a Hong Kong-inspired club for a full evening of entertainment, focused on state-of- the-art Chinese food and cocktails, which are a favourite in
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129
