The great indoors...with Tara Bernerd

Interview by Judith Wilson

Above: Tara Bernerd

Few of us will have escaped the hype surrounding the brand new Marco Restaurant, at Chelsea Football Club in Stamford Bridge. It is the latest venture for the Michelin-starred chef, Marco Pierre White, and, although the restaurant serves classic French cuisine, on match days the food has a British slant. The real story, perhaps, lies in the uber-cool design of the restaurant, which has been launched as a ‘destination’ hotspot to rival London’s best. For Tara Bernerd, CEO and designer of Target Living, the interior architecture and design company commissioned to design Marco, it was a thrilling challenge. ‘We had to marry the masculine worlds of football, with the inevitable big dinners or lunches on match days, whilst adding sparkle, to encourage couples to dress up and eat here too,’ she says.

Those who have followed the career of Tara Bernerd will know she co-founded Target Living in 2002, with architect, Thomas Griem, and is now working on over 20 prestigious projects. Recently completed high-profile commissions include the second floor private gaming rooms at Aspinall’s Casino and the newly launched Raffles private members’ club in Chelsea. At Raffles, the look is sexy and glamorous, featuring lipstick pink circular pink stools, mirrored surfaces and pony skin mirrors. Although every project is tailor-made, Raffles bears Bernerd’s signature stamp: a bold sense of colour, intricate detailing and confident space planning.

For Bernerd, creating an interior is only a tiny part of the greater architectural whole. As Target Living has a 50/50 balance of architects and designers, they undertake entire projects. ‘We bring in teams of consultants – from mechanical engineers to quantity surveyors – to work with us,’ she says. Clients come from the leisure and commercial property industries, though ‘very occasionally’ Target Living accepts a private residential project. Bernerd says there is no formula to new concepts. ‘I might be inspired by an image, an emotion, or a fabulous piece of leather – it’s like drawing a picture.’ It is no surprise that Bernerd received the Andrew Martin International Interior Designer of the Year award for 2005.

For the 2000sqft Marco Restaurant, on the old site of Harry Ramsden’s, Tara had a ‘very strong impression in my heart and my head.’ She wanted the 70-cover restaurant to look impregnable from the outside, seductive and industrial within. It also had to operate like clockwork. ‘When designing for the entertainment industry, practicalities like access to the bar and how the restaurant will run are crucial.’ Tara has a firm grasp of the commercial aspect of design: the earlier part of her career was spent at Yoo, Philippe Starck’s international property and design company, where she became a director. She then launched the boutique arm of the agency, Yoo Too.

Visitors to the Marco Restaurant will be greeted by a glittering, and dramatic look. The building has been clad in African black granite, with tinted windows, a revolving door and even valet parking. Inside, there is a column studded with Swarovski crystals, mink velvet chairs, amber silk lights, and intimate booths upholstered in grey Soane leather. The marble bar, which seats 11, has canary yellow stools.

For Tara, it is a particularly sweet triumph that recent key work has been in Chelsea, as earlier this year she moved her design studios to Burnsall Street. ‘We have a terrific studio here and the entire team love it,’ she says. She has always loved Chelsea, from the days when, as a young teenager, she was allowed to shop on the King’s Road. ‘Many pockets of Chelsea are soaked with memories for me,’ she says.

With the Marco Restaurant successfully launched, Bernerd and Target Living are already working on myriad new projects. They are collaborating with Hive on a new development in the world of student accommodation, for spring 2008, and Bernerd is designing a collection of rugs for The Rug Company. Also this year, Target Living did the entire design for all current UK Center Parc lodges, and is working again with Center Parcs on a new Treehouse concept. For Tara, the mix of projects is intoxicating. ‘I love the combination of architecture and interiors,’ she says. ‘We live and breathe design, and we are not afraid to break the rules.’

Target Living, 2nd Floor Studio, 6 Burnsall Street, SW3
020 7351 7588, www.targetliving.com

Marco, Stamford Bridge, Fulham Road, SW6
020 7915 2929, www.marcorestaurant.co.uk