Pop-up kitchen for pop-up restaurant

Studio East Dining. Photo courtesy of Luke Hayes

PKL has supplied a temporary kitchen for Westfield Stratford City’s “Studio East Dining Pavilion” - the innovative temporary ‘pop up’ restaurant by Westfield in collaboration with Bistrotheque and Carmody Groarke.

The restaurant was erected on the roof of the 35m high Westfield Stratford City development, currently being constructed in East London. The restaurant was open for just three weeks, feeding around 2,000 people while treating them to breathtaking views across London.

Studio East Dining was the brainchild of Westfield, working in conjunction with Bistrotheque, who initiated the pop-up restaurant trend. The restaurant launched Westfield’s Studio East initiative which is designed to harness young, creative talent by providing commissions across art, fashion, product design and environment for the Westfield Stratford City project.

Designed by architects Carmody Groarke, the restaurant was made from scaffolding and boards borrowed from the site and covered in recyclable plastic sheeting, in keeping with its setting. PKL’s kitchen facilities - comprising a ‘mini-kitchen’, preparation kitchen and dishwashing area - were pre-fabricated off-site and delivered to site in portable buildings, reinforcing the ‘construction site feel’ of the project. The kitchens were designed to Bistrotheque’s strict specification.

All of the materials will now be returned to site. The 1.9m square feet Westfield Stratford City will be the largest urban shopping centre in Europe and will form the prestigious gateway to London’s Olympic Park.