LAS IGUANAS – ROYAL WILLIAM YARD
Royal William Yard – Plymouth
Fluid Stone Studio manufactured approximately 200 bespoke concrete screen blocks for the Las Iguanas restaurant at Royal William Yard in Plymouth.
The restaurant occupied part of the historic Brewhouse within the Grade I listed former Royal Naval victualling yard. Against this substantial nineteenth-century industrial setting, the restaurant interior introduced a much more colourful Latin American material palette.
The concrete blocks were used to form a long decorative screen across the front of the bar. Rather than using a conventional solid masonry block, each unit incorporated a distinctive curved V-shaped opening, allowing views and light to pass through the wall while creating a repeating geometric pattern.
Bespoke Handmade Concrete Screen Blocks
At the time of the project, the designers were unable to source a commercially available UK block with the profile required for the design, so the blocks were manufactured individually in our workshop.
A bespoke master mould was constructed from timber and fibreglass to accurately reproduce the curved geometry. Unlike our polished concrete worktops and furniture, these blocks were made using a much more traditional, relatively dry concrete mix.
The concrete was hand-packed into the mould and compacted using rubber mallets, rather than poured as a highly fluid mix. Once sufficiently stable, each block was released from the mould and allowed to cure before the process was repeated.
Producing around 200 blocks by hand required consistency in both the concrete mix and the moulding process. Small variations inherent in hand casting were retained, giving the finished screen a more natural character than a highly mechanised precast product.
Architectural Screens & Bespoke Concrete Blocks
Decorative concrete screen blocks — sometimes referred to as architectural screen blocks or decorative breeze blocks — can be used to divide spaces without creating a completely solid wall. The openings introduce pattern, filtered views and a sense of depth, making them particularly effective for restaurant interiors, bars, courtyards and architectural feature walls.
The Las Iguanas project demonstrates our ability to develop a completely bespoke block from an architectural concept, including mould design, prototype development and repeat production.
Fluid Stone Studio can manufacture custom precast concrete elements for architects, designers and commercial interiors where a standard manufactured product is not available.
