Simple Simon Design designs new Mint and Mustard restaurant in Taunton
Simple Simon Design has designed the new venue for the Mint and Mustard restaurant in Taunton, UK.
The design of the new facility evokes the vernacular architecture of the Kerala in India. Timber framed buildings of dark wood, and high pitched roofs adorned with woven mat of reeds and grasses serve as some of the predominant design features. Some of the building's exterior walls are open.
Bulk of the dividing walls on the first floor of the existing building housing the new restaurant have been phased out while the pitched roof trusses have been exposed. This has led to the creation of a new arched window at the front which allows natural light penetration deep inside. The current Victorian staircase in the building's centre has been retained. A large part of the first level of the building has been eliminated in a bid to offer views of the new vaulted space upstairs. The double height space has been equipped with Moooi pendant lights.
The property features fire-proofed woven banana leaf matting fixed to the ceiling which is reminiscent of Keralan roofs. The floor is made of bamboo. The walls of the building are adorned with antique framed portraits of Indian nobles and senior administrators. Installation of rustic shutters textured by long-term weathering, imported copper vases, carved stonework and framed butterflies caught in the Keralan back waters accentuates the look of the facility.
