Red Roaster

Welcome to the Jungle: The Stella Collective’s take on British Dining With ‘Botanical Punk’

Melbourne based interior design studio The Stella Collective has created an endless summer for Brighton’s oldest coffee house, Red Roaster, headed by Michelin starred chef Matt Gillan. Hana Hakim of The Stella Collective has designed a new vision for the UK based all day dining venue with the theme of ‘Botanical Punk’ with London Architects Studio C102 overseeing the project on site. Hana explains “Botanical Punk was born out of a necessity of being at the mercy of UK winters, when outdoor dining can be brutal, I wanted to bring the outside in, so it can be enjoyed all year round.”

The Stella Collective used lush and tropical planting to create a canopy over the dining areas throughout the café. The jungle, is offset with white clean gridded tiles, adorned by an illustration of a giant goat’s skull to bring back the rock n roll sensibility to the space uniting the two worlds of nature and punk together. Layers of nostalgia and tongue in cheek references such as the polished chrome words ‘The Beach Is Boring’ blaze from a wall inspiring a tropical gothic feel that reflects throughout the space.

Tone and texture also tell a story; with a strong focus on using natural light from the refurbished skylights to reflect the polished brass and marble finishes giving an understated elegance with a tough edge. Kyriakos Katsaros of Studio C102 says “Working with Hana and her team we ensured that their vision for Redroaster was realised by coaxing back to life the dilapidated old Post Office building; opening up old skylights and a dingy fire escape, as well as designing an austere steel staircase in sync with The Stella Collective’s punk sensibility.

Our collaboration across the other side of the world yielded a unique blend that neither of us would have achieved in isolation.” Hana says her vision for the Red Roaster experience was anything but typical. “Putting in a perfectly orchestrated hospitality venue was never going to fly, this is an oddball town and I not only wanted to explore the beauty of Brighton, I also needed to acknowledge her inner misfit.” Hana adds “There is a shadow side to everything beautiful in this world and that is a big part of what makes up British culture. It’s suave, it’s sophisticated and it’s punk as f**k.”

Mike Palmer

The Stella Collective