Featured Press

  1. Read more: Step Inside Peckham's New Vietnamese, Lai Rai, Where Unexpectedly Colorful Interiors Are as Fresh and Vibrant as the Cuisine.
    Step Inside Peckham's New Vietnamese, Lai Rai, Where Unexpectedly Colorful Interiors Are as Fresh and Vibrant as the Cuisine.

    Step Inside Peckham's New Vietnamese, Lai Rai, Where Unexpectedly Colorful Interiors Are as Fresh and Vibrant as the Cuisine.

    Describing their practice, which finds its roots in food, theater, fine art, and digital design, as "distinctive, experiential, and cinematic", they explain Lai Rai was born as "an emotionally and culturally resonant, living artwork", and was shaped by their backgrounds.

    Known for their whimsical, tongue-in-cheek approach to anything from textile artworks and stage clothes to wavy tufted rugs, house of baby's physical environments are where all of their interests collide. It isn't just me feeling disoriented at Lai Rai: "we create immersive settings that feel like stepping into a memory, or a story you can't quite place," Joseph and Tomio tell me.

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  2. Read more: David Ellis reviews Lai Rai: One thrilling step beyond street food
    David Ellis reviews Lai Rai: One thrilling step beyond street food

    David Ellis reviews Lai Rai: One thrilling step beyond street food

    Lai Rai — was it born of a Wes Anderson movie or a computer game? From its ordered red and white frontage it wouldn’t surprise if either Owen Wilson or one of the GTA crooks emerged. Inside is more of the same. It is mostly butter yellow though the red of 1950s diners and tinned sardines is everywhere: the pin-thin neon strip lights; the metal stools; the chopsticks; even the grout between the tiles. It looks faintly make-believe, but has the feeling of being the place to be.

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  3. Read more: Londoners Are Keeping It Cool With Wine Bars That Double Up as Ice Cream Parlors — And These 5 Pass the Design Test, too.
    Londoners Are Keeping It Cool With Wine Bars That Double Up as Ice Cream Parlors — And These 5 Pass the Design Test, too.

    Londoners Are Keeping It Cool With Wine Bars That Double Up as Ice Cream Parlors — And These 5 Pass the Design Test, too.

    Lai Rai is the brainchild of spatial design studio house of baby, whose playfully nostalgic vision can be felt throughout its retro-futuristic interiors. Against a cocooning palette of buttery walls and tiles, the space's electric red and chrome accents feel almost disorienting, as if inviting diners to indulge in a dimension of its own. Part French bistro, part Space Age-core, looks aside, Lai Rai is, first and foremost, a dynamic Vietnamese canteen for people to meet, share stories, and drinks.

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  4. Read more: New Vietnamese concept Lai Rai channels the rhythm of Saigon street food with a distinctly youthful South London pulse...
    New Vietnamese concept Lai Rai channels the rhythm of Saigon street food with a distinctly youthful South London pulse...

    New Vietnamese concept Lai Rai channels the rhythm of Saigon street food with a distinctly youthful South London pulse...

    Designed by spatial studio house of baby, the interiors blend the gloss and utility of retro Vietnamese cafés with a buttery palette and red-glow lighting. Upstairs, a halo-lit space with long tables encourages group dinners that melt into late-night hangs.

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  5. Read more: house of baby, spatial design at the crossroads of art and childhood.
    house of baby, spatial design at the crossroads of art and childhood.

    house of baby, spatial design at the crossroads of art and childhood.

    house of baby revives the child within us through unique rugs, handmade from premium New Zealand wool. Inspired by retro video game maps, each piece goes beyond decoration to become an interactive artwork—transforming space into a playful, sensory landscape.

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