Design Focus: One Princes Street, Falkirk

At the corner of one of Falkirk’s busiest hubs sits a new bar, One Princes Street which aims to add a new dimension to the towns social scene. Robert McCracken reports.
Cutting an imposing figure with it’s grand stone facade, One Princes Street is more than just an address, this new cocktail bar and lounge is attempting to stop the flow of Falkirk consumers heading to Edinburgh and Glasgow for their style bar fix. Formerly 20 Rocks, One Princes Street is a joint venture between John Hamilton and Stuart Gillespie.
When DRAM visited One Princes Street it had just opened by a couple of weeks and the small bar and function venue was obviously still a work in progress, with the finishing touches still being applied throughout.
Entering off the street, through either of the bar’s two understated entrances, you find yourself immediately in the L shaped main bar area. From the Princes Street entrance, the white fronted bar is situated directly to your left, to your right is a row of small couches and low black tables. One Princes Street appears in an expanse of greys. From the grey and charcoal ceiling, to the grey couches and carpet that extends throughout the whole bar, accentuated with black wooding panelling along the wall opposite the bar and bespoke stools and low-rise tables which adds depth and a casual feel.
The bar itself is white, looks crisp and clean, and features multi-coloured LED downlighters tucked beneath the bar top, a theme which continues behind the bar as the back-bar is illuminated in the same manner. Not that lighting is an issue in the bar, the expansive windows that run the length of the building flood the area with light, making it feel light and open even with it’s dark colour-scheme. John Hamilton, co-owner told DRAM, “These windows were covered in vinyl when we came in. We stripped it all back to open them up and let the light in. We want to work with the building’s features, not cover them up.”
To the left of the bar sits a partially enclosed booth, this functions as a VIP area and it’s creation was an important part of the refurbishment process as John and Stuart made the most of the space available, John explained, “This area was forgotten about before, there was a disabled toilet here and not much else. We moved the toilet over and put in this VIP area.” Including the 20-person VIP area, the bar has seats for about 60 in total. Adjacent to this private space is a small but functional kitchen, whilst it is not being used at the moment.
The upstairs space is being utilised as a function room. The room was a gig venue in a previous life but has been transformed into a function room which now seats 60. An original concrete staircase leads you to the function room, which follows much of the same design pattern as the main area. Greys are the order of the day, with a small bottle bar at one end of the room and at the opposite end, a small portion of the original floorboards are on display providing the room with an interesting feature.
John and Stuart are not trying to compete with the cocktail bars of Glasgow and Edinburgh but as John explains, “We’re giving people a choice, somewhere else to go.”