L’Apertivo

What did the future look like in the 1960s and 70s? Studio R2A went back in time to the golden age of air travel and the heyday of boutique shopping in Liverpool to imagine a modern-day late-night bar. Both warm and sleek, retro and modern, L’Aperitivo is an immersive environment that transports people to another place and time.
Nestled amid the buzz of Liverpool’s legendary Bold Street we drew inspiration from mid-20th century European departure lounges, and stylish retail boutiques that were once common on Bold Street in the 1960s and 70s.
Sheer curtains veil the front windows, shielding the venue from the activity of the street. Once inside, a bold composition with strong lines in the architecture and lighting draws people into the bar. The vast bar extends along one side of the room and timber wall panelling and cosy booths along the other. Overhead, the deep-red ceiling shoots a bolt of colour down the centre. Its sculpted curve and illuminated edge add dynamism to the design, and the lower ceiling height creates more intimacy at the back of the bar.
There are seating arrangements for 60 people, including bar stools, communal tables, group booths, banquettes and nooks for first dates. Red stools line up along the bar, which is lit by a 6-metre-long monolithic canopy that glows from within. Like a shop counter, the bar top is all one level, putting the pouring and mixing of cocktails on show.

Booths opposite the bar hark back to the 1970s, with brown leather seats, orange upholstered backrests and amber-ombre globe pendants above. Timber panelling with a high-contrast grain extends the length of the wall, and a built-in tiled planter separates the booths from the banquettes where retro-style tulip chairs face metal tables with timber veneer.
A communal table echoes the form of the bar, and intimate alcoves are carved into the walls, which are covered with a tactile aggregate wall finish. Made with pebbles in resin, the finish is evocative of 1970s brutalist architecture, as is the tiled floor.
Colour-changing and dimmable lights shift the atmosphere from day to night. As the evening moves on from aperitivo hour, the live band or DJ starts up and patrons settle in for a night of escapism.