Spacer Image Spacer Image Spacer Image
Spacer Image Jan Milne Spacer Image
Spacer Image
:: about us :: biography :: textiles :: laminates :: prints :: products :: projects :: news :: contact us :: back ::
Spacer Image Spacer Image Spacer Image
Image Bar Spacer Image


:: latest news
:: Exhibitions
:: Press
:: Awards


The Herald, Weekend Living
:: DESIGN - Caroline Ednie

The last time I wrote about Glasgow-based designer Jan Milne I predicted her highly distinctive style would be "coming to a bar or restaurant near you before too long". That was two years ago and I haven’t heard a peep since - until now.

Jan’s designs have not however, been stamped on some new swanky west end eatery in Glasgow or Edinburgh as I may have expected, but in the environs of Paisley.

The emergence of Reds, an internet café/espresso bar which features Jan’s bespoke designs, doesn’t come as a complete surprise though, because Paisley is fast becoming something of a mini-Mecca in terms of contemporary design.

The new and already iconic University of Paisley Student Union building by Page and Park Architects is one of my current fave raves, and although Reds is an altogether lower key affair, it is nevertheless yet another indication of the town’s lifestyle renaissance.

According to Jan, the project came about because the clients saw a gap in the market, based on the fact that the local panini takeaway shop was doing a roaring trade whereas the traditional square sausage on a roll outlet was increasingly experiencing the bum’s rush.

So, it seems that the time was right for attracting Paisley’s lifestyle literate, and Reds is apparently now where it’s at. "Reds is aiming for quality, and this is reflected in their menu and also in the design, which is very different from most coffee bars." says Jan. So, this means that there’s none of the ash chrome and cappuccino minimalism familiar to any of, say, Byre’s Road’s coffee devotees.

Instead, Reds – which stands for relax, eat, drink and surf – gives itself over to a riot of colour. Maybe not a riot but an ambitious colour palette, directed by Jan.

"the bespoke laminates I especially designed for the venture, and which feature on the furniture and finishes, are based on my trademark fruit designs as well as newer geometric patterns.

"And the result is quite unique, there’s nowhere, even in Glasgow quite like it," says Jan. "The clients are also really excited by the fact that I have designed a lot internationally and this was my first local interior."

Indeed, taking into account that Jan’s other clients include the New York-based Rockwell Group – an architecture, planning and design corporation responsible for the likes of Nobu restaurants and the Whiskey Bar at the Paramount Hotel.

Jan’s distinctive designs have shaped interiors for Bongo’s – Gloria Estefan’s restaurant in Miami – and the Samba Grill in the Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, so it’s understandable that the Reds owners feel they have a design coup on their hands.

Still, Jan is just as delighted to be brightening up a wee corner of Paisley as Vegas or Miami; in fact she says she gets quite a kick out of sharing the Glasgow Road location with the Aff Yer Heid hairdressers.

Reds, 44 Glasgow Road, Paisley For more information visit www.janmilne.co.uk



source :: Caroline Ednie

   :: log in :: Jan Milne Details Spacer Image
Spacer Image 2fluid Spacer Image