Coal Rooms — London, UK

Peckham’s feverish renaissance began in 2015, when British Vogue dispatched a team of models and photographers to a bar on top of a car park, and dedicated 16 pages of praise to this rough-edged corner of south-east London. Today, Peckham has become as common a place for Londoners to spend a Saturday afternoon- as Brooklyn has for New Yorkers or Canal Saint-Martin for Parisians. And as a result, new independent eateries, bars, galleries and co-working spaces are opening apace.
The latest addition is Coal Rooms, sister restaurant to Old Spike Roastery, Aside, Spike + Earl, and the coffee-based charity Change Please. It occupies the Grade II-listed former ticket office of Peckham Rye station, and features a sexily lit coffee shop-cum-bar out front, and a light and airy 30-cover restaurant that looks out across the railway tracks in the back.
All the bespoke ash carpentry is by local architecture firm Kennedy Woods, who are also responsible for the restoration of the space. Parquet flooring, sage green banquettes, Danish-style chairs and orb lighting look sleek against original marble fireplaces. In the middle section, 13 bar stools perch around a sunken kitchen, where chef Sam Bryant and team char grill a meaty menu of 40-day aged Dexter, slow-cooked goat and lamb and mallard, to serve alongside equally gutsy accompaniments featuring offal, and a rotation of creative vegetable side dishes and sauces.
Adjoined to this are the original station toilets, complete with original tiled floors, indoor plants, wooden lavatory seats and peeling posters warning against common Victorian ailments. For architect Chris Kennedy, the most exciting part is the private dining room; ‘It’s a vaulted space with a Victorian mosaic floor that will function as butchery and bakery in the day, before transforming into a candlelit dining space at night.’
ADDRESS
11a Station Way
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
Broken up into six pavilions, this brutalist Mexican house is embedded in the landscape
Sordo Madaleno’s brutalist Mexican house, Rancho del Bosque, is divided up into a series of pavilions to preserve the character of its hillside site, combining concrete, curves and far-reaching views
-
Etihad Airways’ A321LR redefines the single-aisle experience
Abu Dhabi’s flagship carrier brings wide-body sensibility to its new generation Airbus aircraft, a rethink of what short and medium-haul travel can feel like
-
Ralph Steadman has worked with everyone from Hunter S. Thompson to Travis Scott and Quavo – now, the Gonzo illustrator is celebrated in London
A new exhibition provides a rare opportunity to experience the inimitable work and creativity of Gonzo illustrator Ralph Steadman up close. Just don’t call it a ‘style’.
-
Carmela’s joins London’s pizza renaissance
A Little Italy-inspired pizzeria lands in Islington with 13-inch pies, pepperoni heat and big flavour energy
-
Has the ice cream parlour come of age?
A global wave of architecture studios is treating the scoop as spectacle, turning parlours into immersive social spaces
-
Legado brings a bold Spanish legacy to Shoreditch
Michelin-starred chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho’s second venture marries design-led interiors with regional Spanish flavours rarely found in London
-
The Macbeth, an icon of indie sleaze, goes from grotty to gastro
An East End legend meets Portuguese small plates in Jamie Allan’s ambitious revival of a beloved Hackney watering hole
-
A complete collection of Phaidon’s ‘Contemporary Artists Series’ is on display in London
A 30-year project reaching 100 volumes is being celebrated with an exhibition at the 45 Park Lane hotel, including limited-edition works by Kaws and Dana Schutz
-
London’s best pizza restaurant gets a new home in Mayfair
Secure a slice of New York-style pizza in central London as Crisp Pizza teams up with the Devonshire pub to set up shop in the relaunched The Marlborough
-
At this east London listening bar, mezcal-fuelled cocktails hit as hard as the basslines
In Bethnal Green, Little Fires pairs vinyl grooves with mezcal margaritas and Oaxacan sharing plates
-
Harry Nuriev’s Noisy Oyster London bistro isn’t quite finished – and that’s the point
A futuristic, work-in-progress aesthetic forms a striking backdrop for a new, sustainably focused seafood bistro in Shoreditch