RIBA London’s pre-eminent Art Deco venue, has launched a new hospitality pop-up on its 4th floor terrace. This will be a unique outdoor space for clients to entertain their teams on a summers evening, either as a standalone event or as a part of a meeting or conference at 66 Portland Place.
The brightly coloured pop-up, which has been called the Befriending Project, was designed by Merrett Houmøller Architects Peter Merrett and Robert Houmøller and was selected from entries to the RIBA Architecture Open 2017, which was driven by the theme ‘Beyond Borders’. The initiative behind the Befriending Project is to encourage individuals to gather together to cook and eat a meal, with the aim of promoting a sense of togetherness, while breaking down boundaries.
The summer pop-up is available for exclusive use only, and is able to cater for up to 40 people for an early evening networking event. Food will be provided by event caterer Harbour & Jones and will embrace the theme of social dining. The summer menu will feature dishes from around the world and offers an interactive and original take on popular street food. The innovative food stations encourage sharing and aim to open up discussion as each guest builds their own ideal base then heads to the hot counter where hot meat and vegetables are cooked to finish the dish.
Guests can choose from a range of options, including light and fresh summer rolls filled with rice noodles and pickled vegetables, topped with hot freshly cooked chicken or Japanese omelette, on trend tacos and burritos with peppers, guacamole, cheese and sour cream, beef or black beans, or steamed buns and dim sum with chicken, mushrooms, noodles and traditional broth.
Moya Maxwell, Head of Venues at RIBA, says: “We are delighted to be able to utilise this fantastic installation, which has been designed by the talented Merrett Houmøller Architects. The pop-up is in-situ on our 4th floor terrace until mid-September and we hope to encourage companies to bring their teams together this summer to enjoy each other’s company for a few hours in a relaxed, informal environment that encourages a sense of fun, togetherness and sharing.”
The Befriending Project pop-up will be in-situ at 66 Portland Place until the Architecture Open exhibition closes on 14th September after which it will be donated to the British Red Cross who will move the mobile unit between different communities in London to bring together vulnerable young people who have crossed borders to get to the UK.