A second Loudons restaurant in Edinburgh features Armstrong Ceiling Solutions.
Edinburgh entrepreneur Peter Humphrey knew exactly what he wanted on the menu when it came to ceilings for his family’s latest restaurant venture.
Since Armstrong Ceiling Solutions had been his supplier of choice for the first Loudons restaurant in the city’s financial district eight years ago, he decided to revisit the manufacturer’s own portfolio for the latest options. These had to perform aesthetically as well as acoustically.
The Armstrong ceilings are 100m² of Perla Tegular mineral tiles. These are set within Axiom Classic canopies, to visually separate the public dining area from the open kitchen area, at the new Loudons restaurant which forms the ground floor of the Adagio apart hotel in New Waverley, in Edinburgh Old Town. Perla tiles perform to Sound Absorption Class A and Clean Room classification of ISO 5, and are up to 85 per cent light reflectant and 95 per cent humidity resistant.
A sister site to the popular Fountainbridge venue that was opened in 2011, the new 120-cover branch represents a £1 million investment for the family brand – the first in a potential wave of growth for Loudons.
Known as a top spot for breakfast, brunch, lunch and bakes, Loudons prides itself on delivering food for everyone, including a strong menu catering to specialist diets such as vegan, gluten-free and vegetarian.
Peter, who acted as project manager and designer, brought the same attention to detail, and years of property development and design experience, much of it in the commercial sector, to the interior design and fit-out of the restaurant.
“We knew that whenever you have a space with hard surfaces you need something to absorb sound so when we did the first Loudons we had to look at the best way of handling the acoustics within the constraints but with the appearance we wanted.
“We used Armstrong ceilings there so when it came to the New Waverley venue I spoke to the company again and got some advice and the new ceilings have been a great success, both from a sound absorption and appearance point of view. We are very happy with it all, from the look of it and the way it works.”
He added:
“We think noise levels need to be pitched to give ambience with comfortable bustle but not so noisy that you can’t have easy conversation.”
The bright, airy space of the new cafe has been carefully designed to welcome a new city centre crowd, with plenty of outdoor space for warmer summer days. Featuring custom-designed tables and carefully selected Lammhults chairs, the vast dining space fronts a large, open-plan kitchen, giving diners the perfect view of the chefs’ skills.
Although Peter reckons they designed the new restaurant “as economically as possible”, the family has invested heavily in state-of-the-art kitchen technology to ensure the crafting of Loudons’ signature dishes, such as its famed Eggs Benny dishes (of which there are a staggering 14 varieties) goes without a hitch.
Co-founder and director Chris Loudon, said:
“This expansion is an exciting chapter for our business. New Waverley is the next significant milestone in our mission to serve up brilliant food for all, without exception.”
Chris, who was the initial driving force behind the Loudons brand and name above the door, teamed up with Peter (his stepfather) and mother Paulene to create the business. His brother, Douglas Humphrey, joined in 2013 and is helping expand and develop the business. The cafes are open Monday to Friday 7.30am to 5pm and weekends 8am to 5pm.
The Armstrong ceilings were installed over a month by Edinburgh-based specialist sub-contractor AG McDougall and Partner.
More information is accessible via the Armstrong Ceilings website https://www.armstrongceilings.com/commercial/en-gb/.