Polished plaster and stencil work for Porco Rosso, Italian Restaurant

Porco Rosso

Porco Rosso is an Italian cocktail bar in Harrogate, Leeds. They also own the Stuzzi restaurant located on Kings Road, which is in the Michelin guide. Specialising in beautiful cocktails, authentic and modern alike, Porco Rosso entertain hundreds of customers every night with good music, a lively ambience and most importantly of all, delicious cocktails.

There aren’t many Italian cocktail bars in Leeds, although there are quite a few upmarket competitors. Porco Rosso stands out with an exciting menu, ambient lighting, and lively atmosphere which draws in people from all over the area.

Client requirements

Porco Rosso contacted Chrysalis during the interior design stage for their bar. They wanted to give customers a memorable and unique experience. They had seen polished plaster before in restaurants and liked the premium look it offers.

We recommended Marmorino plaster which has a gold finish. This would contrast well with the yellow, overhanging artificial lighting in the bar. Marmorino material would be applied one layer at a time, to create a beautiful finish. We were asked to provide a uniform finish for the plaster so that light reflects off it.

Our work

We applied polished plaster to the walls inside the bar area. These were then sealed and waxed, to improve longevity and finish. Marmorino plaster was chosen for the job.

Marmorino plaster is a semi-shine plaster. It’s lime-based with a high marble powder content, usually over 40 per cent. It reflects light very well with natural variances in shading, courtesy of the high marble content. For Porco Rosso, we chose a special Marmorino plaster that gives off a lovely gold and white metallic colour.

We also had something special in mind for Porco Rosso’s walls. In collaboration with their team, we used a Fararri Trento stencil to give the walls a unique appearance. This stencil work relates back to their wine source in Italy, for an authentic Italian vibe. This was debossed into the wall, to create a lasting impression.

In total, we plastered 30m of walls for Porco Rosso. The walls required several layers of new plaster to create the highly polished finish. The results speak for themselves.