nando’s
Vauxhall, London
The concept was pure and singular: create one continuous homogeneous arch, then place bright glowing objects within it - each colour-coded to represent different restaurant functions (servery, kitchen, seating, condiments, drinks). It's not how Nando's designs now (they're much more about artist collaborations), but this self-imposed conceptual framework gave the project its clarity.
To achieve that clean parabolic form, we built a second arch inside the railway arch. Between the two runs a void where you can walk to access all services - ventilation, electrics, plumbing - invisibly. We clad the inner arch in reclaimed timber shingle tiles, each one different in quality and texture, placed uniformly but opening and closing slightly to create ventilation and lighting apertures.
The front door? A reclaimed revolving door from the Royal College of Surgeons, circa 1750s. You wouldn't expect a huge surgical college door attached to a railway arch chicken restaurant, but that's the joy of reclaiming large pieces of architecture and using them in distinct, unexpected ways.
Beneath Vauxhall station sits a 40-50 metre railway arch: dark, damp-proofed white plastic, with one entrance at the front and a dodgy side door. The brief was characteristically simple for Nando's - create a beautiful restaurant that feels inherently on-brand, even without their logo on the wall.
This was one of our first new sites for Nando's, a real departure from what they were doing at the time. It needed to define what their "spatial identity" could be, not just visual branding with fonts and colours, but how a space itself embodies their values and aesthetic.
Very rarely does a space allow a pure, singular concept to reach its logical conclusion. This was one of those rare moments where it was not only appropriate but joyful to see it through. The technical challenge was preserving the creative vision, ensuring every pipe, every duct fell into the conceptual framework rather than dictating it.
The space still feels like a railway arch (you're essentially inside an upturned boat), but it's warm and inviting rather than dark and cold. The undulating timber shingles create what we called an "inside-out shingle roof" - incredibly tactile, incredibly resolved.
Looking back at the drawings, it's remarkable it got built. We were much more hands-on and reactive then, with me on site sorting problems in real-time. Now that approach is codified into how we work, built into the DNA of every project.
This project put us on the map with Nando's. It demonstrated we could deliver groundbreaking spaces that were technically well-resolved, beautiful, and most critically, a genuine reflection of their brand values. It earned their trust as designers who could consistently knock things out of the park.
The space is torn between purity and richness, between austere and playful. What makes it successful isn't theatre or visual shortcuts (no hanging garlic or planks of cheese) - it's about translating Nando's into who they are rather than trying to create affectations for what they do.
It's a testament to bringing high design to the casual dining sector without making it about fluff. Just inherently beautiful, inherently buildable, inherently technical, all in a single design.
From the owners:
“Designing with MorenoMasey is a partnership, they take the time to fully appreciate your values, needs and importantly for us, brand. They are of course innovative and creative, but they listen and ask all the right questions to truly embrace the project at hand. They do a beautiful job of blending your practical requirements and their architectural skill to deliver award winning spaces.”
