Arcitile + Harts Group

At Arcitile, we are committed to supporting heritage and innovation. Through our work with a range of innovative hospitality businesses, we know that interior spaces are crucial to communicating the vision of a brand – this is why we are committed to creating the very best finish and using the finest materials. We go beyond calling ourselves tiling contractors. We see ourselves as an essential component in the building process – bridging the space between.

We founded our company in 2017, bringing with us more than forty years’ experience. Over the years, we’ve been lucky enough to work on incredible projects – both heritage and cutting-edge – and visit brilliant manufacturers to understand the products that we work with. 

Barrafina on Adelaide Street in Soho celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and was the first Harts project we delivered. Serving up modern Spanish tapas dishes, the open kitchen enables guests to “watch the food being prepared from scratch and the skill of the chefs at work,” says Anna Watkins, Managing Director. We completed comprehensive marble and tile installations in partnership with London-based architects AMA and Superfutures. “The counter dining creates a sense of immediacy and conviviality whether eating as a group or as a solo diner,” says Anna.

Working with architect Andy Martin, founder of AMA, we provided floor preparation and installed Grigio Carnico and Fior de Bosco stone to the floors, walls, theatrical kitchen bar, as well as stone to the bathrooms and private dining areas. Andy drew inspiration from a trip to Barcelona and Madrid, where he discovered bar-driven restaurants with former Chief Design Officer James Hart. “It was amazing to see how these places specialised in one or two dishes, it was very casual,” says Andy. “We learned that the kitchen was the most important thing, and this was reflected by the open bar concept. The interaction between customers and staff was the winning factor.”

Sourcing materials from Bernard J Arnull, Mapei, Kerakoll and Schlüter Systems, our stonework brought Andy’s design to life in this challenging space with column constraints. As James notes, “Andy did a great job overcoming the restraints of existing columns and the need for space behind the bar for the chefs.”

For Barrafina’s opening in Coal Drops Yard beside Regent’s Canal in 2018, we completed another four-week installation featuring exquisite bespoke marble surfaces and stone throughout. “The floor tile is also the bar tile, so it’s a satisfyingly simple design,” James says. “The space really is very tile centric – they’re part of the atmosphere of the place.” And more recently, in 2022, our team handled the installation for Barrafina at Borough Yards over two weeks with black and white marble, an evolution of the black and beige marble first installed at Barrafina on Adelaide Street. It was “part of the stunning redevelopment of the disused railway arches behind Borough Market, with its staggering arches and exposed brickwork,” says Anna.

Using reclaimed curved terracotta roof tiles, our team installed a distinctive floor for The Drop bar at Coal Drops Yard in 2018. “It was inspired by floors that have been worn over time,” says Alex Michaelis, co-founder of architecture and interior design studio Michaelis Boyd, particularly those he discovered on a trip to Mexico with James Hart. Working alongside Alex, we provided floor preparation and tile installation throughout the main bar and front of house areas. “The surfaces were really organic and had worn naturally over time, and we wanted to emulate that in the space.”

Sourcing technical tiling materials from Mapei, Kerakoll and Schlüter Systems, we carefully laid the rustic roof tiles to create a warm, textured surface underfoot. “This gave the space a warm and approachable feel,” says James Hart, former Chief Design Officer. “I was initially wondering if we could make the curved shape work, but Arcitile laid the tiles skilfully.” The terracotta flooring establishes a casual, inviting ambiance in keeping with the stylish restaurant and bar concept. The result is a space with authentic character, creating a “welcoming neighbourhood bar,” says Crispin Somerville, Managing Director of The Drop. 

“It’s a transformative Mexican dining experience,” says Crispin Somerville, Managing Director of Casa Pastor at Coal Drops Yard, which offers tacos and Mexican dishes with tortillas made daily from heritage Mexican corn. Working with architect Michaelis Boyd, we provided floor preparation and installed Mosaic Del Sur tiles throughout the entrance, staircases, bathrooms and mezzanine in 2018.

To achieve the rustic, worn aesthetic envisioned by the designers, we carefully sanded and stained the cement tiles on site with engine oil before sealing. We also installed handmade tiles for splashbacks and white metro tiles in the open kitchen, sourcing additional materials from Mapei, Kerakoll and Schlüter Systems. “We had all sorts of fun with tiles at Casa Pastor,” says James Hart, former Chief Design Officer. “We found some handmade bespoke Moroccan tiles and used five or six different ones up a staircase – we had quite a few different fun things going on there.”

In 2022, we returned to Casa Pastor at Coal Drops Yard to install bespoke handmade Bert & May floor tiles to Plaza Pastor, the lively outside terrace. The dynamic, kinetic pattern echoes the vibrancy of Mexico. “We designed them very much in collaboration with Bert & May,” says Alex Michaelis, co-founder of architecture and interior design studio Michaelis Boyd. “We drew on the patterns we discovered on a trip to Mexico City – the graffiti, the old buildings, the colours. The pattern is a play on those elements

In 2022 our team completed a six-week tile installation for the new Parrillan restaurant in Borough Yards, South London. “At Parrillan, we took a different approach to our other restaurants,” says James Hart, former Chief Design Officer. “We used a mix of terracotta herringbone tiles on the floor along with microcement and other tile styles to create a warmer, softer feeling – like being in someone’s home kitchen.”

The interior of the restaurant draws on Spanish design, with exposed bricks and earthy colours complemented by the ceramic and porcelain wall and floor tiles. The tiled bar tops, crafted from bespoke stone, are the focal point of the dining room. “It’s luxurious, but simple as well, reflecting the simplicity of the open-fire cooking,” says Andy Martin, founder of Superfutures. “The fire in the kitchen is the most important element.”

Working alongside architects Superfutures, we provided floor preparation, ceramic and porcelain wall and floor tiling, brick slip installation, and bespoke stone bar top fabrication and installation. Our suppliers included Parkside Tiles, New Terracotta, Casa Ceramica, Domus Tiles, Lapicida, Mapei,
and Kerakoll.

“Bar Daskal was inspired by my artist grandfather’s house which he designed in Mallorca, so it really needed to capture the essence of that place,” says former Chief Design Officer James Hart. In 2022, our team completed a comprehensive one-week tile installation for the characterful space, which is located at Borough Yards. “We spent quite a lot of time making sure that the floor tiles in Bar Daskal echoed those in his house as closely as possible,” says James.

The space was designed by Andy Martin at Superfutures and AMA, who visited the house in Mallorca to determine references for the bar. “We wanted it to feel very organic and handmade,” Andy says, “but it still had to be a functional and useable space.”

We provided floor preparation and installed tiles throughout the bar. Our scope included tiling the bespoke counter and rear bar arches, the bar flooring and walls, as well as the customer bathroom floors and walls. Sourcing materials from Domus Tiles, Lapicida, Parkside Tiles, Mapei, Kerakoll and Schlüter Systems, we delivered an elevated, design-forward tiled environment.

Quo Vadis on Dean Street is “a temple to the unique cooking and generosity of Jeremy Lee,” according to Quo Vadis Managing Director Crispin Somerville, speaking of the revered Chef Proprietor. “It‘s a spirited sanctuary for likeminded eccentrics in the heart of Soho.” 

In 2022, our team installed striking black-and-white checkerboard marble to the entrance floor. “The black-and-white tumbled marble is fantastic,” says former Chief Design Officer James Hart. “It’s given Quo Vadis a sense of being a little bit smarter, a little bit more serious.” 

Working alongside Concorde BGW for Harts Group, we provided floor preparation and installation of the bespoke patterned marble throughout the entrance area. The checkerboard design featured an inlaid bordered perimeter detail for an elevated look. Sourcing technical tiling materials
from Mapei, Kerakoll and Schlüter Systems, we carefully laid the contrasting marble tiles to achieve a seamless, graphic finish underfoot.