When asked to design ‘Rudie’s’, a Jamaican restaurant in East London, Alexander Mulligan decided to create an interior that would complement the food and the country’s culture. The colour scheme was established when he decided to pay homage to the warm pastel shades on the faded houses, the man-made signage, the hand painted boats and the colonial past of the island. The three main colours used on the floor, walls and ceilings subtly nod towards the national flag.

Alongside the wenge and mango wood furniture, two steam-bent ash light installations were created by the designer who says the motivation was: ‘the feeling of evenings in the West Indies, of being outside in the cool nights, amongst nature, eating and drinking, under a tree, and the canopy of a starry sky. but also a street lamp, that urban feeling combined with nature, as many tropical urban areas offer.’

The bar houses a large collection of jamaican rum and is probably the biggest in London. To emphasize this fact, Mulligan designed a shelving system based on the burnt/preharvested sugar cane field, using burnt ash dowel and a delicate lighting set that uplifts the amber bottles. The front of the bar is made of powder-coated bronze corrugated steel making an architectural reference to Jamaica.