丨英国伦敦

Goodbye Horses: A Folk Art-Inspired Wine Bar in London Full of Poetic Charm

Eric David

16 January 2025

Project Name: Goodbye Horses

Location: 21 Halliford Street, London, United Kingdom

Completed: July 2024

Detailed Information

Project Name: Goodbye Horses

Location: 21 Halliford Street, London, United Kingdom

Completed: July 2024

Hidden within a Georgian terrace in the leafy North London enclave of De Beauvoir Town, Goodbye Horses, a natural wine bar and restaurant, and its sister coffee shop Day Trip, pair understated charm with a poetic architectural vision. The debut project of Alex Young and George de Vos, these venues, along with their latest addition, The Dreamery—an artisanal ice cream parlour and wine bar located just across the street—form a cohesive yet multifaceted celebration of design, craftsmanship, and hospitality.

Boldly reimagined by Swiss architect Leopold Banchini, the former pub housing Goodbye Horses and Day Trip serves as a striking canvas for an evocative cross-cultural dialogue inspired by the interplay of the Arts and Crafts and Japanese Mingei movements during the early 20th century, while The Dreamery introduces a sleek and whimsical counterpoint with its kaleidoscopic design, courtesy of Young’s design consultancy Ltd Ltd and architecture practice Studio Bates Rai. Together, the trio encapsulates a unique harmony between art, community, and gastronomy.

Goodbye Horses. Photography by Rory Gardiner.

Goodbye Horses. Photography by Rory Gardiner.

Goodbye Horses. Photography by Rory Gardiner.

Photography by Rory Gardiner.

Photography by Rory Gardiner.

Harmoniously fusing English Medieval Revival motifs with Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetics, Banchini’s design celebrates the tactile beauty of natural materials while sidestepping nostalgia in favour of a forward-thinking approach to craft.

From its low-slung, ten-metre-long oak bar to hand-painted folklore-inspired murals, Goodbye Horses —whimsically named after a moody 1980s synthpop song—offers an invitingly eclectic yet meticulously curated setting that invites guests to slow down and appreciate the finer details, aided by a stellar selection of natural and biodynamic wines and an audiophile-quality sound system.

Upon entering the space, visitors are met with an immediate sense of tactile immersion. The pub’s original brick walls are adorned with limewash and roughcast, while the ceiling is finished in hand-textured cork, lending the space a sense of warmth combined with an acoustic softness. Underfoot, a beaten-earth floor of clay, straw, and linseed oil evokes the utilitarian simplicity of early countryside pubs, subtly connecting guests to the building’s history.

Goodbye Horses. Photography by Rory Gardiner.

Photography by Rory Gardiner.

Photography by Rory Gardiner.

Goodbye Horses. Photography by Rory Gardiner.

Goodbye Horses. Photography by Rory Gardiner.

Goodbye Horses. Photography by Rory Gardiner.

The space’s focal point is undoubtedly the ten-metre-long wooden counter. Crafted from a single oak tree, the sculptural piece stretches across the room, doubling as a bar, kitchen counter, and communal dining table, its raw edges and visible grain lending the space a quiet monumentality.

Surrounding this central axis are bespoke stools, light fixtures, and furniture, crafted with an alchemist’s palette of materials: think oak, Japanese hemp fibre paper, Italian hand-cast glass, volcanic stone, and oxidized brass.

Cornwall-based artist Lucy Stein animates the space with hand-painted murals featuring pastel hues and Marc Chagall-esque motifs, including a horse and half-moon—Goodbye Horses’ emblem. Adorning floor-to-ceiling hessian curtains and a luminous rice-paper light fixture above the central bar, her vibrant explorations of British folklore and mythology meld past and present while poetically evoking the coloured translucency of stained-glass windows from bygone eras.

Goodbye Horses. Photography by Adam Kang.

Goodbye Horses. Hand-painted rice-paper pendant light by Lucy Stein. Photography by Adam Kang.

Goodbye Horses. Hand-painted rice-paper pendant light by Lucy Stein. Photography by Adam Kang.

Goodbye Horses. Hand-painted curtains by Lucy Stein. Photography by Adam Kang.

Goodbye Horses. Photography by Adam Kang.

Goodbye Horses. Hand-painted curtains by Lucy Stein. Photography by Adam Kang.

The sensory experience extends beyond sight and touch to sound, with an audiophile-quality quadraphonic system designed by Izaak Gray. Perfectly restored vintage Tannoy Lancaster speakers envelop diners in an eclectic soundscape of vinyl records selected daily from an extensive 4,000-strong library. Against this sonic backdrop, Head Chef Jack Coggins delivers a weekly rotating menu of sharing plates that champion seasonality and sustainability. From Sardines on Milk Bread to Oxtail Ragout Broken Rice, each dish reflects a playful yet refined approach to modern British cuisine, perfectly paired with an ambitious selection of natural wines curated by Wine Director Nathalie Nelles.

Photography by Adam Kang.

Goodbye Horses

- Alex & George’s vinyl collection. Photography by Adam Kang.

Alex Young (left) & George De Vos (right). Courtesy Goodbye Horses. Photography by Sam Harris.

Photography by Sam Harris.

Photography by Sam Harris.

Photography by Sam Harris.

Photography by Sam Harris.

Goodbye Horses’ romantic sensibility continues in the adjoining pour-over coffee shop Day Trip, featuring a small seated bar that offers views into the wine bar as well as access to a lush garden retreat.

Designed in collaboration with Ji-Hae Hwang, an environmental artist and garden designer, the garden features a five-metre stone bench, quiet alcoves, and an oasis of verdant flora, creating a seamless indoor-outdoor transition.

Reclaimed Yorkstone slabs and mature trees add layers of texture and tranquillity, further underscoring the project’s commitment to sustainability and natural beauty.

Day Trip. Photography by Adam Kang.

Photography by Adam Kang.

Douglas Conde (Head Barista). Photography by Adam Kang.

In a city as vibrant and ever-evolving as London, Goodbye Horses and Day Trip offer a refreshing antidote to the frenetic pace of urban life, as is The Dreamery, an artisanal ice cream parlour and wine bar that opened in December just across the street.

Designed by Young’s design consultancy Ltd Ltd in collaboration with architecture practice Studio Bates Rai, The Dreamery serves as a sleek counterpoint to the rustic charm of its siblings, featuring a luminous stainless-steel bar, mirrored surfaces, and a kaleidoscopic ceiling hand-painted by Lucy Stein. The artist’s signature motifs—vivid and folkloric—transform the ceiling into a phantasmagoric tableau, setting an enchanting stage for the inventive ice cream flavours the guests can chose from, think gingerbread, oolong & prune, or pear & verjus sorbet, all served in dainty silver bowls that underscore the space’s refined yet whimsical character.

Together, these three venues form a cohesive yet multifaceted destination where design, art, and gastronomy coalesce into an experience that is as thoughtful as it is transportive in what can only be described as a love letter to craftsmanship, community, and the enduring power of good design.

The Dreamery. Photography by Harriet Langford.

The Dreamery. Hand-painted luminous ceiling by Lucy Stein. Photography by Harriet Langford.

The Dreamery. Hand-painted luminous ceiling by Lucy Stein. Photography by Harriet Langford.

The Dreamery. Photography byHarriet Langford.

The Dreamery. Photography byHarriet Langford.

Goodbye Horses founders & owners Alex Young and George de Vos, Head Chef Jack Coggins and Wine Director Nathalie Nelles. Photo by Joe Charrington.

Goodbye Horses: A Folk Art-Inspired Wine Bar in London Full of Poetic Charm