Rob says…

Ray Monday the interior design, procurement and project management of the full refurbishment of three of my pubs. The Star by Hackney Downs, The Jackdaw and Star and The Leyton Star , she also transformed some key spaces within The Star of Kings and designed the interiors for one of my own homes.

Using her eye for design to source furniture and working with skilled tradesmen to get unique interior pieces built for all the different interior environments, Ray Monday collaborated with many different local designers to create bespoke touches throughout each building.

Each pub had a strong design narrative running through it that complimented the local area and was completely distinct from the other pubs in our group. Ray Mondays ability to get the best out of tradesmen, so they could bring her designs to life, was second to none, she literally project managed the design and build from start to finish.

It is a testament to her design eye that almost a decade on from our first collaboration all her designs are still in place at The Star by Hackney Downs and will be for years to come.

Working on the Star public houses / pubs was a natural collaboration spanning several years. Being free to create with no boundaries is important to me and likewise to Rob Star. Throughout the process we both gave each other different wings to fly. Rob entrusted his first pub baby with me and we continued to work together harmoniously over the years until we both naturally branched out to do our own thing.

Design elements in all these buildings came from my love of narrative within spaces and love of challenging generic aesthetics within hospitality and beyond.

These interior concepts came to fruition with the collaboration of many different and wonderful people and included so many different and detailed design elements.

A classic fairground inspired bar with an original carousel horse attached and a community minded take on a pub garden with edible planters. A gypsy caravan inspired karaoke room.

Walls with holes knocked out to be filled with hidden treasures, nothing was out of bounds.

Great moments to recall were never when the curtains opened and the East End ‘scene’ was pumping but for me they were the smaller moments and include but are not limited to a very rogue painter called Al who made me laugh out loud during a lot of very inconvenient times by simply being unashamedly himself.

Eating Portuguese nata’s with Rob on our many creative lunches always took any building site stress away and I remember finding a happy onion which a team of carpenters from ‘Fat Leaf’ had left me as a parting gift.

Often I arrived at work to find my best friend Chico there singing and smiling.

I searched through thousands of beautiful antiques always looking for the perfect detail piece.

After several years working on these buildings it became clear to me that I wanted my own business, my own brand, and my own creative story to build up with my husband and family, however the work I did for Rob’s public houses will always be a special part of my creative life, it was an honour to work together, I know we both felt equal value from it which is a rare and beautiful thing.

Rob Star is a hard worker, an urban guru, a great man and still a dear family friend. Rob is also a great leader, a philosophical man and one who offers people around him strength harmony and understanding with his deep listening skills and mercurial characteristics.

I am sure one day in the future we will work together again and I love watching his London empire grow.

So many good memories.

Rob Star had known me for years and when it came to choosing a designer for his second public house baby, he came to me.

I taught myself everything on the job. I remember turning up to a design meeting with the edible bus company with a lego plan of what we could create for the outside community planters. At this time in my life I had three very young children, there was lego everywhere, so I put it to use.

With no formal design training under my belt it was an incredible learning curve. Fear stops so many people trying new things. Being self taught in so many creative fields offers me a different perspective and allows so much room to grow in a way which suits my own creative work.

It was bloody hard work but more than anything it was a personal awakening to my own design abilities and deeply satisfying. I project managed the job alongside designing. I went on an evening course to try grasp speedy perspective drawing which still floors me to this day, I learnt how to deal with multiple tradesmen as a woman on site, it was so varied an experience and so creatively raw, it was a magical time.

The East London scene can be full of hipsters, DJ’s and party animals but my favourite moments were sitting with the painting crew in the local cafe’s desperately tired and working together to schedule the last wallpapers and paint work being finished in time for opening. We had a rogue painter called Al who had very few teeth and was so unashamedly himself he made me laugh out loud, often.

Rob and I would literally run around the antique race courses at 6am in search of interior pieces, I remember getting to the end of a morning at the racecourse and spotting an accordian that I simply had to have for the gypsy inspired room I was designing, Rob understood my pain, passed me £300.00 and smiled as I ran full pelt across the race course to grab it before the stall owner left. As with all the projects we did together, Rob trusted my visual sense, design ability and gave me carte blanche to do whatever I wanted with the interiors, knowing my version of public house would never be too traditional and would fit into his own love of alternative aesthetics.

The Star By Hackney Downs remains firmly in my heart, my feelings towards it are akin to the teenage bedroom you lovingly put together, a moment in time, a great original community focused public house. A total pleasure to work with all the people involved and of course Rob Star.

I look forward to going back and visiting my old carousel horse.

This interior design project was a greater reflection of my own aesthetics. I worked on the concept based around the Jackdaw bird who is known for collecting treasures and trinkets and bringing them back to the nest. Holes were knocked out of the walls so I could place found treasure inside, glass tables were made so I could place yet more treasures inside, my love for the surreal and curiosities came into play more within these walls. After designing such a bold interior for Hackney Downs I wanted to desaturate the colour scheme in order for a more sophisticated crowd, leaning towards more of a hotel lobby bar. I worked with local lighting designers to hang loose lighting over the bar and worked with an illustrator to create the wallpapers to bring to life my concept in full. The ladies bathroom was a favourite place for me to sit as I embraced my love for beige and soft pink combinations and I installed an open glass box with a bird proudly sat next to the bar. I worked with my trusty neon makers to design great neon signs and moved the more formal front bar into a less formal eccentric lounge space in the back which housed eclectic vintage furnishings. This project was very detailed, the devil is always in the detail in everything I create as much as is possible. The golden velvet curtains were made by my favourite curtain maker Arnold and the carpentry was undertaken by a beautiful man Joshua Tree who’s skill and dedication was so valued. The paint team was led by Cheeko Ijomanta who brought everything in with his normal class and style. The Jackdaw was a beloved project, sold now but forever in my design heart.

This pub required me to think more traditionally which is always a greater challenge for me, Before this started we knew this would be my last project as I had decided to embark on creating my own interior brand. The highlights from this project were Rob finding a piece he loved from Paloma Faiths tour, a giant metal tree which we installed in the back yard and working with The Fat Leaf company and all the people involved who helped in every way. It was a difficult project with ceilings falling down and times when I was left with the structural engineer Tofi worrying that the entire building may collapse but it all worked out in the end. I chose to work cork into a lot of the walls which was a nice textural addition and asked Archie Proudfoot to once again grace the windows with his art, during this time, it was clear to me that I wanted to be making the art and creating my own designs rather than designing interiors for other companies and that it was time to cross that bridge with greater power. The Leyton star felt more like a distant cousin, less of a baby, so it was what it was, work.

Star of Kings is a fun building. My focus here was to run in and out and transform different spaces within the large 4/5 story building where possible, when I had time. The best addition to this building was my choice to install old school wood panelling to the downstairs main pub area, the area I worked on most. This kept the darkness and old school pub feeling so well and served the city clients and younger customers equally. The Kings X toilets were also fun to tune up, I found some popping urinals and also had installed some vintage lemon sinks in the floral ladies room, I enjoy designing toilets.

Upstairs I padded out the kareoke room and kept that pretty standard, had a ladies flamingo inspired toilet in the basement and created a sophisticated lounge conference room with palm wallpapers and simple chic fittings.

Kings Cross is huge, the parts which I approached with my interior design & decoration there only touched the surface, it’s a beast. I’d love to go back, strip it all back and start again fro scratch but then again, maybe not!