Overview
Berenjak Borough is an award-winning Persian restaurant in Borough Market, part of the JKS Restaurants group founded by Kian Samyani. The restaurant holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and is inspired by a Qajari Persian townhouse set in the rural foothills of the Alborz mountains. This project involved a significant extension, taking a second adjacent unit within Borough Market and knocking through to create an additional dining room and bar. The complex 8-week build included only a 2-week full restaurant closure, with the restaurant trading throughout the majority of the construction period to protect cash flow and maintain the team's momentum.
Approach
The brief was to keep the restaurant trading as long as possible to protect cash flow and minimise disruption to the restaurant team. This required meticulous coordination of the construction programme around the restaurant's operations, including strategic scheduling of employee holidays to align with critical build phases. We managed the phased approach, completing initial works in the new unit whilst the restaurant continued trading, before executing the knock through and amendments to the kitchen and design in the existing space. The tight timeline and the presence of an established team meant there was minimal time for a soft launch—bookings went live almost immediately upon completion. This demanded precise coordination between all parties to ensure a seamless transition and successful opening of the expanded space.
