The hospitality group Incipio is to open four new brands as part of a £1.3 billion regeneration project at Kensington Olympia, the Standard has learned.
The concepts, called Arbour, Wolves of Tokyo, Lillie’s, and Juno, will open in October, occupying 40,000 square feet of space across the events venue, which opened in 1886. It’s understood the four projects have cost Incipio £14 million.
The 14-acre redevelopment is an ambitious one and is being funded by a consortium of financial firms and investment companies which includes Deutsche Finance International and Yoo Capital.
Incipio is the group behind the likes of Pergola on the Roof and the Libertine and is to take the lead on almost half of all food and beverage outlets at Olympia.
Arbour, designed to serve theatregoers and office workers based there, is to be a 15,000 square foot bar with a capacity of 1,100. There’ll be a rooftop bar and food such as fried chicken and smashed burgers.
Wolves of Tokyo will be a “high energy” Japanese restaurant and cocktail bar with space for 800 guests and will also have a rooftop space.
Based entirely on the roof, Lillie’s is inspired by “the elegance of English gardens” and Kensington’s old vineyards and will serve British small plates, English sparkling wines and Champagne.
Finally, Juno is set to be the UK’s largest Italian restaurant, an all-day concept at an “accessible price point”, the Standard was told.
The team behind the project — the monetary scale of which eclipses even the OWO in St James’s — said Olympia is expected to attract as many as 10 million people every year.
“These venues represent our most ambitious and diverse project to date,” said Ed Devenport, CEO of Incipio.
“We’ve crafted four distinct concepts that celebrate the best of global food culture while offering something truly special for London. Olympia gives us the perfect platform to deliver unforgettable experiences at scale.”
Lloyd Lee, from Yoo Capital, told the paper: “When we first began building the vision for Olympia, we made a commitment to showcase young energetic British companies like Incipio, who represent a bold new generation of visionary British culinary entrepreneurs, creating original new concepts, menus and experiences for Londoners and visitors from further afield.”
Olympia, Motorail Carpark, Maclise Road , W14 0NE, olympia.london
