Restaurants, bars & members’ rooms

Choose colour under service lighting

Assess the proposed walls beside banquette upholstery, tabletops, mirrors and the light used when guests are seated. A deep red or muted plum can read differently at the entrance and at the back of a narrow dining room. Confirm which details take a contrasting sheen and which should recede, then approve the actual product and colour together.

Treat the preparation window seriously

Explain when the premises can be cleared, when food preparation resumes and which routes staff still require. Identify counters, drinks displays, extraction grilles and fixed seating that will remain in position. Agree protection and cleaning responsibilities before work starts, with repairs and other trades shown in the same programme. The usable closure window includes more than the hours available for applying paint.

Plan late or early shifts through the approval process

Night and early-morning work can be discussed when a daytime closure is difficult. Westminster publishes standard construction hours and an approval process for work outside them. Set out noisy preparation, deliveries and quieter application tasks separately, alongside lease, building and licence conditions. An alternative shift depends on those checks and the agreed scope; it is not confirmed by a business’s closing time.

Sources: Westminster: out-of-hours working approval

Define the condition for opening the room again

Ask the occupier to nominate the person who accepts the area back. Include ventilation, product drying and return-to-use requirements, cleaning and furniture reinstatement in that decision. For a bar or private members’ room, identify high-contact joinery and cleaning routines before product selection so the appearance and maintenance brief stay connected.