Design Focus: Cross & Corner

I’m not in the habit of googling my own name, but when I did, one of the pictures that popped up was of Michael McGuigan, taken as part of an interview I did for DRAM many moons ago in the days when he jointly owned Edinburgh’s Human Be-In.
So perhaps I was always destined to write about another of this Edinburgh entrepreneur’s ventures, namely the newly-opened Cross & Corner, at 1 Canonmills. It’s a small 1,150sq ft site comprising one larger main room, with a smaller dining room leading off it.
In the years since that interview the company Michael McGuigan has founded, The Shilling Group, and it now has six freeholds and five leaseholds under its belt, and they are all very different. They include Edinburgh’s The Fountain and Bar Kohl, as well as its latest acquisition, The Borders Hotel.
Despite the design gulf between them, Michael took inspiration from the success of his last undertaking, The Fountain, in deciding on what was right for the Cross & Corner.
He says, “When we took on The Fountain it was a notorious spit and sawdust pub that few residents in the neighbourhood would dare to enter. The area was crying out for a quality food-led bar, a place where people could meet in a relaxed environment, and The Fountain has answered that need.
“When we were scoping out the opportunity for the Cross & Corner, we identified a similar gap in the market. In the immediate vicinity, there’s nowhere that offers an individual and sophisticated pub experience and we’ve come up with a proposition that fills that gap.”
The design of The Cross & Corner is as random as his portfolio of concerns, although new isn’t a word that you’d use to describe this renovated corner unit, formerly McLachlan’s. It has a lived-in look, and I don’t think that any Festival goer new to the city would have an inkling that this bar had just opened. This was all part of the plan, of course, as the shabby chic look was all cleverly crafted by the architects and designers responsible, GLM.
Says GM Paul McCutcheon, “Once we got the keys, we ripped it all out and started from scratch, taking six-weeks to complete. GLM
and Touch, the design arm of The Shilling Group, devised the look and feel, and we didn’t want it to be shiny and new. We wanted a lived in look. There’s a randomness to some of the fixtures and fittings and it is certainly a world away from, say, The Fountain, which is a lot slicker, I suppose. It was always intended that The Cross & Corner be a lot quirkier.”
The unit juts out on the corner of a busy junction, and on the day of my visit was doing a roaring lunchtime trade, so in less than a month of trading, Michael’s hunch looks to have been right. Unlike his other freeholds, there’s absolutely nothing obviously new or gleaming about the interior. It is retro trendy, and takes many ofits style cues from the Victorian era – especially the toilets which with all white tiles and vintage brass taps look a bit Dickensian. This vintage look continues throughout the rest of the design in the reclaimed tile tabletops and original wooden flooring, vintage furniture and antique light fittings. It also has exposed brick walls, curios, and assorted artworks.
From the stencilled windows announcing the fact it’s a great place for a burger, glass of wine or sitting on your laptop (like me), to the of-the-moment jam jar lights with filament bulbs clearly visible in the window, its first impression is relaxed and seriously informal.
Being a corner unit there’s a lot of light flooding in onto the bar that sits along the far wall, with a serving hatch from a very small kitchen poking through one section of the back bar. The bar itself has a copper top (this seems to be a very popular interior design choice right now), and is complemented by copper lights hanging above it, plus a back bar constructed of copper piping. The exposed brick walls are set off by a strip of green tiles, in a lurid shade that is replicated in the wipe-clean vinyl banquette seating that skirts the wall of the larger room, as well as being picked up in tiny details, like the painted salt and pepper mills on the tables. Each table also has a small concave glass ornament with the table number visible through it, plus a random image – from a pair of curtains, to a couple of pigs.
This quirkiness continues across the back bar with bottles of whisky and spirits sharing the shelves with packets of filter coffee, an old pair of scales, as well as some condiments on a wall-mounted unit, topped off with a brown leather suitcase. There are also sections of old eight panel doors stuck to various parts of the walls.
All the furniture looks like it’s been salvaged, but the cobbled together look has been carefully crafted. Heavy wrought iron tables with wooden/tiled tops have been painted in bright yellow, which is perhaps the most striking splash of colour. The flooring is the original wood and the wallpaper is bespoke with pictures of beer mats all over it. But even the wallpaper is faded and distressed looking.
But the most striking aspect I think has to be the ornate ceiling, painted black with gold cornice detailing. It is beautiful, and has been restored to tremendous effect in both rooms.
The dining room is tiny and the beer mat theme is kind of continued in this room, with a wall of old mirrors emblazoned with vintage wine buyer’s logos and craft brewery branding. The exposed brick and a mixture of the same type of furniture is evident in here too. This area is also served by it’s own serving hatch from the kitchen, and also has its own set of doors leading outside, so it benefits from natural light too, although nowhere near as much as it’s neighbour. There is artificial lighting too, wall mounted airraid shelter lights. Other than the eight tables and chairs, there’s nothing else in this area.
All things considered, less is more, springs to mind at the Cross & Corner, and I’m sure that Michael will be more than happy with this conclusion.