Client
Jamie Oliver

Role
Co-Founder

Practice
Blue Arc Design Studio / NHDS

Sector
Hospitality

Status
Competition

Scope
Concept Design

Year
2002

Nick Hancock and Neil Southard led Blue Arc Design Studio, the predecessor to Nick Hancock Design Studio. One of the practice’s most notable projects was the delivery of Jamie Oliver’s flagship Fifteen restaurant on Old Street, London, created within a former gallery building and documented as part of Channel 4’s acclaimed series, Jamie’s Kitchen.

The project combined a restaurant, delicatessen, bar, chef training school and office accommodation within a single building. Delivered to a highly compressed programme and limited budget, the scheme required extensive technical development and careful coordination to transform the existing gallery into a fully functioning hospitality destination.

A significant challenge involved securing planning approval for the change of use from gallery space to restaurant and bar, while integrating complex building services and commercial kitchen infrastructure within an occupied urban environment. Particular attention was given to fire protection, kitchen extract systems, carbon filtration and acoustic separation to ensure the restaurant could operate successfully without adversely affecting neighbouring residential properties.

The basement level accommodated the restaurant, commercial kitchen and staff facilities, while the ground floor contained the delicatessen and bar. Offices and administrative functions occupied the upper levels, creating a vertically integrated operation within a constrained urban footprint.

Working closely with the client team and project stakeholders, Nick was responsible for developing and coordinating the architectural solution, preparing technical information and helping guide the project through planning, design and construction. The project demanded a combination of creativity, technical rigour and practical problem solving to meet programme, budget and operational requirements.

Completed under intense public scrutiny, Fifteen became one of London’s most recognised restaurant projects of its era and demonstrated the value of clear design thinking, technical coordination and delivery-focused leadership within a challenging hospitality environment.