Bill Amberg Studio collaborated with Paris-based architecture studio Laplace and hospitality company Artfarm to create 30 leather-bound tables for Mount St. Restaurant. Situated above the newly refurbished Audley Public House in Mayfair, Mount St. brings together food and drink, craftsmanship and culture, in a space where site-specific artists’ commissions take centre stage. We had previously worked with Artfarm, owned by gallerists Manuela and Iwan Wirth, to create leather-topped tables and bar stools at the Roth Bar & Grill at Hauser & Wirth, Somerset.

For the Mount St. tables, a full vegetable-tanned analine leather was used which emphasizes leather’s natural qualities. Clients are often cautious about using vegetable-tanned leather because it can mark easily. But our clients remembered that the dark tabletops we created for the Roth Bar & Grill, while they initially picked up marks, had developed a beautiful patina over time. With regular use, the leather reaches a point where it is saturated and becomes reconditioned, much like the surface of a well-loved leather briefcase.

For Mount St. Restaurant, the ambition was to emulate this effect in a slightly lighter colour, so this time we used a traditional full Italian vegetable-tanned shoulder, which will develop into a rich chestnut colour with the intense demands of a modern restaurant. We made 30 tables in various lozenge and circular shapes, with a full thickness material applied to wooden-trimmed pieces edged in solid brass.

The tables are coupled with Made By Choice’s Kolho dining chairs, designed by the artist Matthew Day Jackson, who has collaborated previously with Bill Amberg Studio on our Print Collection [https://www.billamberg.com/bill-amberg-print-collection-2019/].

Adding to the overall effect, the ‘Broken Floor’ mosaic flooring by Rashid Johnson picks out the colours from the furniture, lending an airy, light atmosphere to the dining room.

‘We created the tables with a view to letting the leather do its thing over the course of the restaurant’s life. It has come into its own and is one of the great features of that space – and quite unique. As long as the leather is conditioned occasionally it will continue to look great forever.’ – Bill Amberg