Top London law firm, Baker McKenzie, chooses Athanor
SHW Design’s first involvement with the design of the kitchen and catering services at Baker McKenzie came after an approach from real estate agents Savills, who were advising the leading law firm on its move to new premises at 280 Bishopsgate, a building that was to be stripped back and internally rebuilt prior to occupation.
‘From the outset, Baker McKenzie wanted something different, a bit more edgy,’ says SHW Design’s Senior Design Consultant, Jack Luckings. ‘For example, the new facilities feature a micro-market – Baker McKenzie was one of the very early adopters of this concept which has subsequently gone on to be very popular.’
Most of the design work carried out by SHW Design involved the facilities on levels 11, 12 and 13 of the building, but they also designed the coffee hubs on levels 7 to 11, and the ground floor pantry. Level 11 houses the staff dining and includes a coffee/deli bar, micro-market, a self-serve area so that staff can prepare their own lunch, and a multi-purpose area that can be used for a third party pop-up offer to add variety. Level 12 is where the main kitchen can be found, complete with Athanor cook suite, and is also home to two fine dining areas for clients. Level 13 is where you will find the stunning Lantern bar – an exclusive space with fantastic views over the city – that can cater for up to 100 people and features a clay oven for BBQs in the summer months.
Before deciding on the design of the facilities on each of the various levels SHW Design worked closely with Baker McKenzie to fully understand how its staff used the catering services at its current premises. ‘We needed to find out why they ate there, what they wanted to eat, how often they used them, and how much they spent,’ says SHW’s Strategy Consultant, Rebecca Stevenson. ‘This was critical to the process of creating an offer that best suited their needs and, as result, the dining options have moved away from salad bars and a choice of multiple hot meals to a more contemporary offer that is bespoke and tailored to what the staff told us they wanted to eat: it’s a reduced offer, but more refined, and as a result we believe it will see far more use than the facilities in the old building.’
At the heart of the main kitchen on level 12 is the Athanor cook suite. ‘The client wished to create a kitchen that was capable of the very highest level of food service and that’s why Athanor, with its great reputation, was chosen,’ says Jack. ‘The way that we have designed the suite it is both versatile and flexible, with two radiant hobs, single and double plaques for both direct and indirect cooking, a twin fryer, salamander, multi-cooker, and an oven under. Given the fact that it has to service levels 11 to 13 as well as provide cold food for the pantry, we absolutely needed a suite that was going to be both reliable and long lasting and that, above all, is why we chose Athanor. Although it’s currently used for creating finger food, hot buffet items, and dishes for the fine dining menu, it has been designed with the future in mind so we know that it will be suitable no matter how the menu changes over the years to come because it has the versatility to handle all types of gastronomy. The fact that the range is configurable goes hand in hand with the client’s desire to have something a little bit different.’
‘Fit out of the new catering facilities was undertaken by C&C Catering who did a great job. The primary challenge they encountered during installation was logistical. The building was concurrently worked on by other fit-out companies across various floors, necessitating careful coordination with other trades and strict booking procedures for shared access lifts. Despite these complexities, effective communication between C&C, SHW Design and Mace Interiors, ensured minimal disruptions and smooth progress throughout the eleven month project,’ concludes Jack.