A restaurant kitchen with chefs preparing food. Shelves with neatly stacked plates and bowls filled with fruits and vegetables are in the foreground. White tiled walls and a warm ambiance are visible.

Fish Shop

Aberdeenshire, Scotland

2021 — 2023

Client Artfarm

Retail & Hospitality

The Fish Shop is a charming and beautifully crafted restaurant and fish monger in the centre of Ballater in rural Aberdeenshire, designed to celebrate Scottish fishing heritage while embodying a modern and sustainable approach to ethical seafood sourcing.

‘So popular even its owner can't get a table’

Grace Dent, The Guardian

Architectural floor plan of a large building shows detailed layouts of rooms and furniture. Several drawings of marine animals are scattered throughout the plan, including whales, fish, and turtles, adding a decorative element to the design.

View through a window of a cozy dining room with a round table set for four. The table has wine glasses, plates, and cutlery. Wooden chairs surround the table. A textured wall and framed artwork are visible in the background.

A cozy restaurant with wooden chairs around tables. Walls feature ocean-themed murals and small framed photos. A metallic fish sculpture decorates the ceiling. A chalkboard menu is visible on the wall. The ambiance is rustic and inviting.

Architecturally the intervention is a subtle, yet carefully-planned restoration project within the shell of an existing shopfront building. The client’s core ethos for a sustainable and low-waste restaurant extends into the architectural brief, in which a blend of conservation and fabric-first drive the attitudes to new and old building fabric respectfully.

The interior design by Russell Sage Studio pays homage to fishing traditions and vernacular building craft throughout: handmade furniture makes extensive use of reclaimed timbers; while natural linen, wicker woven fish sculptures and a bar top formed in recycled glass are subtle and playful nods to nautical forms and materials.