When Cubitt House decided to restore the beloved Belgravia watering hole and eatery The Orange back to its former glory, Georgie Pearman, hotelier and restaurateur extraordinaire, knew exactly how to approach the renovation. Honouring the area’s rich design heritage, Georgie worked with local designers, artisans and retailers from the iconic Pimlico Road, design district of London and plethora of interior talent.

Built in the 1800s as a brewery, on the site of a former coffee house, The Orange is said to be named after William of Orange. Fast forward to today, the grand pub sits over 4 floors, positioned in the famed craft district of the Pimlico Road providing a stylish hub to eat, drink, party and sleep.

Dubbed ‘The home of British Interior Design’, Orange Square on Ebury Street and The Pimlico Road, house some of the most celebrated and legendary fabric houses, showrooms and interior designers and craftsmen and women that London has to offer. What better place to seek inspiration from?

Working with the likes of Soane, Martin Brudnizki, founder of And Objects, Nina Campbell, Fermoie, Linwood and the oh so stylish The Lacquer Company, it is a complete delight to have our natural colours in the space too. Creating an undeniably chic and welcoming atmosphere and celebrating expert design, natural colour and innovative public spaces.

From the new wrap around bar, to the intimate dining areas, the pub has been transformed into an eclectic amalgamation with small details at every turn.

Read on for an exclusive insight with Georgie on the transformation of The Pimlico Road establishment. 

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‘Clove’ in the bar area

‘Sang de Boeuf’ by the fireplace

‘Trumpington’ in the dining room

Behind the design with Georgie Pearman

Read below to discover all the behind-the-scenes of Georgie’s design decisions for The Orange, what it takes to renovate such an institution and the inspiration behind it.

We hope The Orange is a welcoming and fun place for guests to come, meet friends and have some fun.  We have spaces where they can have a drink, have a bar snack, have a 3 course supper and then maybe to go down to The Blood Orange Bar afterwards for cocktails and dancing. The Orange is a buzzing and busy.  It’s a beautiful and grand building over four floors, a place to eat, drink, party and sleep and overall to have fun.

Yes and No. We love entertaining at our home and often have a houseful of friends or our children’s friends. Above all we love to create spaces that people feel relaxed in, are comfortable and want to stay in so our home could be described in the same way of what we try to create at Cubitt House.  Although you do create a different feel when doing hotels, restaurants or pubs just because of the service you have to provide.

I love the Blood Orange Bar – our basement cocktail bar. A great place to meet up with friends whether before or after supper and maybe grab a cocktail or two. Plenty of comfy corners with great cushioned seating as well as a fun mural adorining the walls.  The bar team are doing some amazing cocktails down there.  It’s also great to hire for a party.

It’s all just about inviting your friends, they’ll make sure of the atmosphere but otherwise I always have a few candles burning, lighting is very important, nothing too bright and then some great food and drinks of course.

I love supporting our great British tradition of design and crafts and we have so many talented people here.  Often they are seen as being expensive compared to buying the similar items from China but here you get the quality and you know that they are bound by very stringent environmental and employment legislation that other countries are not bound by.   I also like the relationships you build up and if there is ever a problem you have someone nearby who you can speak to.  So I try and do my very best to source British as much as possible. We find designers and craftspeople who use the very best and often use traditional techniques that have been honed over many years and work sustainably.  I have worked with some great people over the years including, of course, Edward Bulmer. Others include Samuel Heath who have been working in Birmingham for over 200 years; Lewis & Wood, Rapture & Wright, Linwood & Soane for fabrics and wallpapers; Lefroy Brooks; The Cotswold Bed Company amongst many others. I love going back to these companies again and again as we know and trust them.

Sustainable, British, Tradition.

There’s so many great things that go on in the square outside the Orange from carol singers at Christmas to the Saturday morning Farmers Market.  I would love to see a beautiful flower shop here as well and would fill The Orange with beautiful displays from it.  Having said that we do have the brilliant Moyses Stevens only 10 minutes away opposite the Thomas Cubitt pub on Elizabeth Street.

I love the strength of the colour of the paints due to the rich mineral & earth pigments that are used and that everything about them is completely natural.

Our pubs have a long history, so we need to be true to that and can’t go totally modern or do anything crazy. It would look very strange if we went all white and put up lots of modern art. Its also about expectation – our guests want to come and have an experience in a London pub but one with a touch of glamour. I choose colours that I feel suit the architecture and work well in their environments.

It’s a very complex dilemma and not one that anyone can say they understand – even the experts!  However, I do feel that everyone should try and work in the best ways.  Supporting regenerative farming is shown to help replenish the soils and we are working with Wild Farmed for our flour and will try to source from regenerative farms going forward.  We are also proud of our Gift trees initiative that we have been running for a number of years at Cubitt House. This is where our diners are encouraged to add £1 to their bill. For each of those pounds a tree is planted in areas of the world undergoing reforestation projects. To date we have planted over 400,000 trees and Cubitt House has won the Green Apple Award for its initiative’s.  

A lovely glass of chilled white wine in the garden on a summer’s evening.  To me, it signifies summer, friends, family, being at home and in my garden which I love.

I tend to be quite boring in my pizza choices and would go for a margarita with chorizo or pepperoni on it.

After a long leisurely breakfast or lunch at The Orange, pop into the Edward Bulmer Natural Paint showroom, just a stones throw away across the square to talk all things colour, design and sustainability with our team of colour experts.