Belgo is an international restaurant chain which serves Belgian food - moules, frites and biere - and takes Belgian idiosyncrasies as its design theme. Our strategy was to explore the formal, structural and organisational qualities of this brief beyond their intentionally kitsch origins.Mussel shells, velodromes, stomachs and intestines, barrels of bier, medieval vaults, stained glass, Brueghel and Bosch were all form-making inspirations for the project.

Belgo Zuid was placed in a former dance hall / small theatre in London’s Notting Hill Gate which was to be partially reconstructed to match the requirements of its new use. The walls and the roof of the main dining hall were rebuilt as structures that would explore the theme of the shell and bring in natural light to the restaurant through three cuts acting as rooflight whilst respecting views of neighbours over the roof. The resulting shell was clad in stainless steel on the exterior, and wrapped with oak planks on the interior.