Byron

When Tom Byng established the burger chain Byron in 2007 following a four year stint in America, he set out with one simple aim: to bring “proper hamburgers” to London. Six years later, Byron now operates thirty sites across the country. Opened in 2012,the Renzo Piano-designed Central St. Giles site sits alongside Brazilian barbeque company Cabana and the first of Jamie Oliver’s Union Jacks concept.

Despite operating so many sites, each Byron restaurant is designed with its own unique style. The theme for Central St. Giles was “polished raw”, a mix of raw materials, contemporary fittings and exposed industrial ductwork. The plant room, for example, is constructed from a reclaimed shipping container, brought onto site in

sections and carefully welded back together. One universal theme is Byron’s front-of-house theatre kitchen concept, which opens up the kitchen to the entire restaurant.

The Central St. Giles development has attracted a lot of interest for its stunning design and prestigious architect. However, the design is very much about aesthetics, and very little about the practicalities of installing a restaurant. The only extract louvers are small and discharge at low level, the internal ceilings are seven metres high, and the space is vast. Because of these challenges, this was the biggest filtration installation we have ever done for Byron. We installed ESP and UV filtration, carbon filtration, supply air,

back-of-house supply and extract, over-door heaters, air-conditioning, variable-air-volume controls – the works. Getting all of these component parts to function correctly was a real challenge. We had to make sure that no odours or smoke escaped from the low level discharge, conform with the landlord’s exacting noise-level requirements, and ensure that such a large, glass-fronted space could be kept warm in winter and cool in summer. It took a lot of co-operation between trades onsite, high-quality products and a lot of hard work, but turned out to be one of the most satisfying projects we have completed so far.