Du Boulay working in Shopping Centre Developments

 

Shopping centres are not just places to shop. Some of the newer centres have provided massive redevelopment to the city centres – rather than the out of town malls of previous decades. In addition to the hundreds of shops and multi-screen cinemas there is also a vast choice of restaurants and du Boulay Contracts have been busy working in these developments on behalf of our clients.

Located in Cardiff’s new St David’s 2 development, the inspiration behind the fifth Jamie’s Italian came from Cardiff’s long history of mining and Welsh Pride. This new build unit was taken from a double height shell to finished restaurant, including the construction of a new mezzanine floor, in just twelve weeks.

In the North West, Jamie’s Italian is located in the heart of the extended retail and leisure facilities to the historic port of Liverpool, Liverpool One. The theme for some of the finishes has been taken from Liverpool’s industrial heritage with aged copper cladding and a polished dark concrete floor. Rustic reclaimed oak boards have been used extensively for wall cladding and joinery. There were many challenges on site with a substantial steel framed mezzanine floor to be installed and a triple height staircase to access the staff quarters along with complicated delivery logistics to a major site in a City centre environment.

Westfield is the location for two of our clients: Jamie’s Italian opened in July. The restaurant is housed in a vast Tardis-like single storey unit just outside the main mall. Design features include antique metal panelling, rustic oak boards, brass inlayed oak panels, brass fronted bar and slate flooring. An eye-catching Vespa headlight wall adds a quirky touch to the authentic Italian feel. We are also about to complete another unit in Westfield for our client, Le Pain Quotidien, the Belgian bakery and patisserie chain which is due to open in October.

Set to open in the Autumn, One New Change in the heart of the City of London will house a variety of restaurants including Nando’s where we are currently on site. This restaurant promises to be interesting in terms of design and features brightly coloured multi-directional corrugated cladding to the interior walls and use of exposed concrete.