Jump Studios completes work on The Modern Pantry

Jump Studios, a London-based architecture and design practice, has completed work on The Modern Pantry, a new venture from chef Anna Hansen.

The Modern Pantry, comprising upstairs and downstairs restaurant space as well as a shop/pantry, is housed in two Georgian properties in St Johns Square in Clerkenwell, London.

The Grade II-listed buildings were close to derelict when Hansen saw their potential as a home for The Modern Pantry.

Extensive work was then done to convert and link the properties - one was a townhouse while the other formed part of an adjacent steel foundry - into a light and airy restaurant.

The style is said to be contemporary with a homely and 'almost folksy' vibe.

The challenge was to introduce a contemporary feel to the Georgian palette.

Situated on the ground floor, the glass-fronted cafe/restaurant is a casual dining space featuring furniture designed by Jump Studios and made by Nicholas Alexander, including one long rustic-style table with turned legs accompanied by Cherish chairs by Horm.

Smaller tables have lathe-turned pedestal bases with LG Hi-Macs tops engraved with The Modern Pantry cooking utensil motifs, designed by London-based graphics studio Hyperkit.

Shaun Fernandes, director of Jump Studios, said: 'We brought Hyperkit in to help us extend the concept through a broad graphic language that could be applied to various elements, from the menus and branding to the engravings on the tables.

The white furniture is intended to match the dove-grey colour of the walls and pillars, while brickwork was deliberately left exposed to reveal a bit of history.

Brown leather banquette seating runs the length of the restaurant and light comes in the form of copper pendants - reminiscent of Victorian copper cooking pots and vessels but with a 21st-century twist - by Piet Hien Eek.

The pantry, meanwhile, is decked out in an old-fashioned style, although it features contemporary aspects such as bespoke shelving.

Situated in the old townhouse part of the building, it can be accessed via a separate doorway to the side of the restaurant.

Upstairs, there are two further dining rooms with views over St Johns Square.

Here, the design is slightly more formal.

The furniture is made of black-stained ash - including tables designed by Jump Studios and Cherish chairs by Horm - set against light-grey walls and original wood panelling.

Sky Garden lights by Marcel Wanders hang in the main dining space, which can also be used as a meeting room, while clusters of Caravaggio lamps feature in the North dining room.

Combined, the two rooms cater for 56 people.

The artwork was sourced by Hansen along with a mixed collection of crockery, candelabras and other antique objects that are intended to reinforce the domestic aesthetic.

The facade of The Modern Pantry was restored to highlight the Georgian architecture, with long vertical glazing panels modelled on the old shop front to the side of the ground-floor restaurant and a more traditional shop window for the pantry next door.

All the exterior signage was made by hand.

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