Box 9 Clads Soho Restaurant Kid in Bricks Made of 90% Waste

Studio Box 9 has built a 3,300-square-foot (307-square-metre) Soho restaurant entirely from brick — including bricks made from at least 90 per cent recycled construction and demolition waste. The material clads every surface of Kid, from the central grill to a 14-seat wine room.

The restaurant occupies a corner site in central London formed of two formerly separate units, which Box 9 combined to create a modern take on a Turkish mangal grill restaurant. Chef Sertaç Dirik, whose background is in his family's Mangal II restaurant, runs a menu inspired by his Turkish heritage.

Why brick?

"The site's two shopfronts offered an opportunity to connect their contrasting elevations through a shared design approach," Box 9 co-founder Lou Davies told Dezeen. "Frith Street retains a beautiful Victorian upper storey with distinctive brick patterns that reflect Soho's merchant-trading history, while Bateman Street has a new elevation and a central section rising to the residences above."

Davies said brick also carried culinary weight. "[Brick] has a centuries-old relationship with restaurants, kitchens and cooking with fire, forming the basis of traditional fireplaces and hearths," he said. "It also reflected the heritage of Turkish cooking and Sertaç's family background, while connecting to the history of the Soho building and its original brick patterns."

"We loved the idea of using brick on every surface," Davies said. "There was a raw humbleness to it: wine cellars, kitchens and grills would traditionally have been built with brick. It wasn't about fancy materials; it was about using the best material for the purpose."

What is the K-Briq?

The grill — and the rest of the space — was built with the K-Briq, made by materials company Kenoteq. The product contains at least 90 per cent recycled construction and demolition waste. According to Box 9, its production requires no fossil fuel or firing, and it releases just a tenth of the carbon emissions of traditional bricks.

Two rooms, two characters

Box 9 gave the two former units subtly different identities. The Frith Street side keeps a more traditional Victorian design, with brick laid in a traditional bond and a traditional joint. The Bateman Street side has a more contemporary feel, using a soldier bond and a raked joint.

Guests enter the Bateman Street side through a discreet door and meet the central grill. Upstairs, a fully brick-built wine room seats 14 guests. Downstairs, an open bakery doubles as an events room, furnished with bespoke movable feature tables by Jan Hendzel Studio that allow different configurations.

The studio aimed to match the space to the chef himself. "For Kid we needed to create a completely unique restaurant that represented Sertaç," Davies said. "His personality is big, and his background is rooted in generations of cooking in Turkey and his family's cooking style, as well as how they cooked at Mangal II. All his training was in cooking with fire."

Kid joins a run of recent London openings, including French restaurant Cassette in a Grade II-listed workshop and a pizzeria by Barcelona-based designer Isern Serra. The K-Briq specification signals how recycled, unfired materials are moving from experimental architecture into hospitality interiors.