Redeco Room: Ep.1 – Block 1: Design | Designing Timeless Restaurants

If you’ve ever walked into a restaurant and immediately felt at ease — without being able to explain why — you’re not imagining it. Great hospitality spaces are a masterclass in invisible design. And in the latest episode of Redeco Room, I sat down with Laura and Justin, the duo behind Block 1 Design, to unpack exactly how those “effortless” interiors happen.

Spoiler: it’s never actually effortless.

The details you don’t see (but definitely feel)

Laura and Justin pulled back the curtain on the tiny decisions that quietly shape your experience — from the exact distance between tables to the way a chair’s back height changes the whole mood of a room.
These aren’t the design details that get shouted about on Instagram, but they’re the ones that make a space either flow… or flop.

The common traps restaurants fall into

We talked about the mistakes that make designers wince — like prioritising aesthetics over operations, choosing the wrong materials, or trying to squeeze in “just one more table” (every restaurateur’s favourite hobby).
Let’s just say: there’s a reason some places feel chaotic no matter how beautiful the wallpaper is.

Green flags when choosing a designer

If you’re looking to work with a designer, Laura and Justin shared what signals to look for:

• people who obsess over functionality as much as the visuals
• designers who ask the uncomfortable questions early
• teams who think about the customer, the staff, and the business — not just the renderings

In other words: the ones who don’t confuse good taste with good design.

Why furniture and layout matter more than you think

We went deep on furniture (obviously my favourite topic). How a chair can change dwell time. How a banquette can soften a room. How a layout can either help or sabotage service.
It’s all interconnected, and honestly, once you hear them break it down, you’ll never look at a dining room the same way again.

A few behind-the-scenes stories

You’ll also get some brilliant — and occasionally chaotic — stories from real London restaurant projects. Think unexpected constraints, last-minute fixes, and the kind of mishaps every designer has lived through but rarely talks about publicly.

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If you’re a designer, a restaurant owner, or just someone who appreciates a well-designed space, this episode will give you a new lens on the craft behind hospitality interiors.

🎧 Listen to the full episode on Redeco Room — where I speak with designers, architects, and creative minds shaping the future of how we live and design.

Guests: Block 1 Design
Website: block1design.com

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