Lido in Prestwick opened on the site of the former Dome last month. The new venue, the second Lido for Ayrshire-based Buzzworks, has more than a passing resemblance to the original Lido in Troon, but is much smaller. That doesn’t mean to say it feels small, because actually it feels much more spacious than the Dome ever did. The main contractor this time was Dimension while THR3 Design designed the new-look space.
The expansive glass frontage leads off the street into a good sized foyer which firmly stops the weather from making any impact on its customers once inside.
A patisserie-station (a familiar Lido sight) is situated just in front of the main door, and boasts an array of tempting looking cakes and scones, while immediately to the right as you come in is a high round zinc topped table which sits in front of a large screen affixed to a brick wall. There is also a large mezzanine area which sits up a couple of steps and looks down onto the bar area.
The floor, which when it was the Dome had a black and white theme, is now oak and has a parquet pattern. This warm, honey colour adds warmth to the venue, and compliments the rod-like wood-pieces which are used on the bar frontage.
The predominant colours are white – used in the small 2-seater booths that sit beside the bar, dark aubergine – for the upholstery that lines the booths on the mezzanine and a neutral taupe used in the large booths by the door and also in the four-seater booths – but there are also splashes of bright purple and pink used in the non-fixed seating. The different upholstery colours define the different areas of the bar and restaurant.
The meet and greet station sits between the bar area and the booths by the window, and sits in front of a large rectangular wooden table which seats about 10 people. To the right of this table there are smaller booths which seat four and have neutral beige leather-like upholstery. While the tables appear here to have a marble effect tabletop. These tables sit in front of a glass balcony, beyond which lies the mezzanine.
The statement shelving, which sits behind the rectangular table, hosts a collection of candles and there are a couple of decorative prints on either side. In fact the statement shelving in this Lido is also apparent around the open-kitchen, which sits to the rear of the bar, and has also been used as a practical but decorative tool for the back-bar itself. The shelving here is fit for purpose.
The waiting staff utilise the shelving round the kitchen for necessities, while above there is arty bric-a-brac, while the back bar shelving has been designed to display the back bar bottles to best effect. The difference is that in the original Lido the shelving was all wooden, but here it is a matt black steel structure.
The three booths that line the window all have statement lampshades which are the same as the honeycomb effect shades used in the original Lido, while the group table boasts two bespoke shiny lampshades, and the mezzanine booths have the same over-sized dome lampshades as Troon.
The bar and the mezzanine utilise brick-like wall coverings, but on the mezzanine you hardly notice because of a striking glass tile feature, which is a piece of artwork itself. The five deep tiled-mirrored structure runs above the mezzanine booths and is back lit with LED’s which change colour and in doing so change the ambience. The mezzanine also has a Mediterranean-style tiled floor with the wall to the right featuring french art-eco poster art with black frames.
The tables throughout have various finishes – some have marble-effect table tops, others zinc and some are wood. But the bar has a marble-effect top – with quirky coat hooks, affixed to the wooden frontage below. Above the bar, and fixed to the roof, are two equally spaced storage cages which not only have glass-hanging space, but also can accommodate bottles and promotional material which slots into the frontage. It’s a very effective use of space. The bar also boasts half a dozen bar stools which allows people to eat at the bar too.
There’s no doubt the new-look Lido has made its mark – on a dreich, damp Monday at 10.30am, the day I visited, the tables were just about all full. That’s certainly a good sign, and shows comprehensively that Lido has made the transition from a stand-alone venue to a potential brand that can obviously be rolled out.