Coffee and cocktail brand Grind was our first project in the UK, today we have delivered over 14 café-bars and restaurants in London, each with their own personality yet unifying brand aesthetic.
See how the brand evolved
Greenwich Grind
Greenwich Grind is a relaxed, all-day venue that brings the inner-city Grind experience to the laidback London suburb. Contemporary colour and detailing infuse the heritage building with the essence of Grind, setting the scene for its unique blend of music, coffee, food and cocktails under a feature glass-atrium roof. The venue is divided into three spaces that function independently and together to create a holistic Grind experience. The grab-and-go deli/takeaway is a fun, bold space with signature pink on the walls and ceiling. The Green Room is an intimate cocktail bar with a deep-turquoise-blue backdrop whilst the main dining room opens to an alfresco area with an abundance of greenery evoking the leafy Greenwich suburb.
Royal Exchange Grind
Royal Exchange Grind is situated in London’s historic Royal Exchange building and evolves the design language we have developed for Grind & Co. Taking cues from the building’s rich history, we worked with a local heritage architect to develop a minimalist interior that respects the site’s past. A refined materials palette combines elegant Carrara marble counters with matte brass foot rails and coat hooks. Underfoot, we restored the century-old floorboards, employing the same herringbone pattern in the marble wall tiles that refines the space.
Clerkenwell Grind
The rich heritage architecture of an 1870s warehouse was the backdrop for our eighth collaboration with Grind. The project occupies a prime location in London’s up-and-coming Clerkenwell neighbourhood, alongside some of the city’s next generation of dining venues. For the Grind team, this project represented the next step in the growth of their business, marking their transition from successful coffee and cocktail venues to a full-scale restaurant and bar. From a design perspective, this meant redefining the visual language that we developed for their other locations and building a new flagship for the Grind brand that would set the direction for their future venues – a dynamic new take on the contemporary British dining experience.
Liverpool Street Grind
Liverpool Street Grind is our 13th project for Grind and follows hot on the heels of Greenwich Grind. Translating the inner-city Grind experience into a lively all-day offering, the venue offers something for everyone with a restaurant and cocktail bar and dedicated grab-and-go café for takeaway coffee and food.
Exmouth Market Grind
Exmouth Market Grind marks our tenth collaboration with the Grind team. The neighbourhood espresso bar, cocktail bar and restaurant, located on the famous market street in Clerkenwell — Exmouth Market — boasts simple but refined details reminiscent of French bistro feels married with depth and textures of a British dining affair.
London Grind
Housed in the unique and historic establishment of No. 2 London Bridge, our London Grind concept is eclectic whilst respecting the heritage feel of the existing infrastructure. We exposed internal walls to reveal and celebrate the century old brickwork whilst maximising the use of natural light and its impressive five metre high ceilings. White marble bench tops and textured patina bar tiles were selected to contrast the concrete ceiling and reclaimed oak timber flooring. As the first Grind to operate as a full restaurant, patrons have the flexibility to choose to dine in the casual cafe area, bar or in the cosy surrounds of the restaurant banquette.
Whitechapel Grind
Whitechapel Grind is a coffee and cocktail bar adjacent to Aldgate East station in London, UK. The venue is located inside the White Chapel Building and is open to the public. We needed to make sure that for this particular Grind, the style we developed across the other Grind venues remained identifiable yet complimented the building, whilst appealing to the those who worked in the building and those who were just passing by.
Piccadilly Grind
Piccadilly Grind is a pop-up site situated underground in London’s Piccadilly Circus tube station. For the duration of the six months occupancy, the brief was simple – work within the confined footprint of the site on the main concourse and maximise its operations for coffee to go orders as well as accommodate a number of sit down orders. We needed to ensure the design style and language we had developed for Grind’s other sites was evident here.
Soho Grind
Opened in 2014 as the second Grind venue, Soho Grind is an espresso bar and features a basement cocktail bar hidden beneath Beak Street in the heart of Soho. The design language for the Grind brand is developed here from its first venue in Shoreditch – Shoreditch Grind.
Covent Garden Grind
Located in Covent Garden’s hospitality hub of Maiden Lane, this Grind venue is inspired by traditional French bistro dining with a modern twist that feels intimate and electric with a touch of feminism. Evolving the design principles from Grind’s typical white toned brick walls, the studio re-envisaged the space with feature pale green walls contrasting dark stained oak paneling. Lighting played an important part in this space, the iconic neon signage featured in all of Grind venues sits on the back wall, scripted in soft pink neon with lyrics from David Bowie’s Heroes.
Grind at London Bridge Station
Grind announced late last year that it was partnering with a travel caterer to open its café-bars in airports and train stations across the UK and Europe, the first of which will be opening at London Bridge station. Stay tuned for more updates at grind.co.uk
Holborn Grind
Following the success of Shoreditch Grind, Soho Grind and London Grind, UK enterprise Grind & Co has again collaborated with the studio to deliver sibling site, Holborn Grind. Resisting the urge to take itself too seriously, this venue has been designed to accommodate the transition from cafe to espresso bar, juxtaposing vintage elements with modern detailing to seamlessly work with operations. Bare brick, textured concrete render and reclaimed pale oak provides a raw backdrop upon which marble, brass and iron are layered to deliver an industrial effect. The result captures the unique tone of the neighborhood, all the while declaring, “Love is the drug” in a cursive neon – a reference to one of the Grind & Co founder roots in the music industry.
Shoreditch Grind
Situated on the iconic Old Street roundabout in Shoreditch, London, Shoreditch Grind is the first coffee and espresso bar and the beginning of a beautiful friendship with the Grind team. With an international-grade recording studio upstairs and a fully equipped kitchen, today it serves coffee, food and cocktails and has established itself as a local favourite and Shoreditch landmark. The brief was simple, aligned with the Grind founders, we were to design an experience that would merge their love of coffee and music to fulfil their long-term mission of bringing the best coffee to all Londoners.