Skosh

About our client 
Neil Bentinck opened Skosh in the summer of 2016 as a bespoke dining room with an open concept kitchen in which to enjoy uncomplicated, yet refined dishes in a comfortable and informal manner. The name “Skosh” comes from the Japanese word meaning ‘small amount’, referencing the menu's sharing-plates format. Only a year after opening, Skosh was named Yorkshire Life Restaurant of the Year and was listed in the Michelin Guide as a Bib Gourmand.
 

Our role
We worked on securing the planning approval for the expansion of the restaurant into the adjacent property, part of a Grade II listed building and within the sensitive heritage context of Micklegate in York. Our design solution saw the façade of the property returned to its original layout, with the kitchen and back-of-house spaces reconfigured to create the new enlarged dining space, maintaining the open-kitchen concept at the heart of Skosh. One of the key challenges was the successful negotiation through the planning process with York City Council and York Civic Trust to facilitate the works required to the listed building. 
 

Understanding a client
It was critical for us to understand Chef-owner Neil Bentinck’s vision for his restaurant, including the guest experience and the practicalities of how this would be delivered. We worked closely with Neil and his team to translate that into a design solution for the restaurant’s expansion, right down to kitchen layout details. Restoring the building frontage to its historic layout and maintaining the reading of spaces within the listed building was also an important part of the project. The design had to continually balance the ambition for the restaurant with the importance of the building as a heritage asset and the change we were proposing to it. 
 

Drawings

Photography