|
Peter Insall is General Manager of Kensington
Roof Gardens. He started working there in 1986 and is now in charge
of the day-to-day running of one of Kensington's best known venues.
Kensington Roof Gardens incorporates a private members club, a banqueting
venue, the roof gardens and a soon-to-open restaurant.
"I started working here as Assistant Manager in
1986, and came back when they offered me the General Manager position
in the mid 90s, I was very happy to come back. There is just such
an appeal to this venue, it is totally unique. Everyday there is
something different going on.
"The gardens themselves set the scene for everything
else. There are three gardens each with their own distinct character.
The Spanish Garden is the one that people say 'I can't believe this
is up here', because it looks so tropical. It's set in a courtyard
and layed out in a very structured style … pergolas, lawns, fountains
and palm trees. It feels very exotic. The English Woodland Garden
is full of old English oaks, planes and lime trees, and the Tudor
garden is made up of 3 courtyards, hard paved with Elizabethan style
brickwork. It's all dressed with wisteria so its very attractive
from Spring until Autumn.
"There are three sides to our business; the events
we host, everything from weddings and parties to product launches
and awards ceremonies; the private members club on Thursday and
Saturday evenings; and the new restaurant which will be open to
the public all week round, when it opens in April (with the exception
of Saturday and Sunday dinner).
"The private members club has been running successfully
for 20 years and it's always been an exclusive and unique place
to come. We think that the new restaurant will enhance what we already
offer. We are also hoping that the restaurant will encourage more
local members.
"The new restaurant itself, is something that is
really exciting for me personally, because I have always seen there
as being a need for a restaurant. The fact that it will be open
to the public at lunchtimes and in the evenings throughout the week
will mean that the Roof Gardens will get really good exposure to
new clients. Standing proud of the garden it has stunning views
over London. The style of the restaurant will be in keeping with
the surroundings, a fine dining restaurant with an English menu.
"The garden itself produces a lot of herbs and ingredients
that we can use in the dishes. In keeping with the Roof Gardens
themselves the menu will reflect the seasons, so it will be changing
at least three times a year. The lighting in the restaurant has
also been designed to reflect the seasons too. We aim to make it
a novel experience every time people come here.
"We also host a huge variety of different events.
As well as traditional events like weddings and barmitzvahs we also
host everything from awards ceremonies to product launches, fashion
shows and themed parties. In the past we've had flocks of sheep
on the lawns up here. Once we even had a polo team complete with
ponies. The sheep came up in the lift by the way, and the ponies
used the stairs. When we hosted the launch of a new range of Indian
foods we actually had a tiger wandering around. I took one look
and thought,'Its just another normal day in the life of the Roof
Gardens'.
"One of the biggest parties we've held is a Winter
Wonderland party for a client. Right from the ground floor up we
set a winter theme. When people arrived it was snowing. We led them
to the party through snow tunnels. We often use tricks like this
to disorientate people on their way to the main event. This means
that the initial impact is carefully calculated for maximum effect.
The whole place inside was decked-out in white. We had a couple
of hot bars that were all red and fiery, podium dancers, naked statues.
Outside we had an ice rink outside, ice bars, interactive games
like snowboarding and snowballs that were made from real snow. We
even had a chestnut seller out for a bit of traditional contrast.
The clients wanted winter and we were able to give them winter all
the way through. It was a great success.
"People often have an idea about what they want
but no idea about how to achieve it, it's our job to design something
specific for them, and we have to use all our skill and expertise
to bring that about. That is our strength, the flexibility of being
able to use all the resources we have, and years of experience of
co-ordinating a huge variety of events.
"We start off with a blank canvas and then start
filling the picture."
|
