If Feasts + Fables was a Place
What does your future look like?
What do you dream about? Do you believe in dreams coming true?
The two of us have paused. That’s the perfect time for dreaming. But when we wake … what then?
We had full careers. Then a surprise detour into an adventure on our local high street. A four-and-a-half-year adventure … a delicatessen/café; great coffee, a relaxed atmosphere; a slow burning success story while the traditional British high street was struggling. Our detour into small business was an unexpected ‘future’. It wasn’t a dream; or a plan; more like ‘serendipity’ really. It was full on; in a good way. We set it up to be a slow conversation about food and the talented producers who work with passion and purpose to craft their offerings.
We were storytellers more than retailers.
What does our future look like?
As we sat down to think about what we’d loved about that adventure, we realised that it wasn’t so much what we were, but how we were that got us up in the morning. Don’t get me wrong; we loved our place. It was laid back and looked good: a welcoming atmosphere. It was packed full of amazing products. It was a place to be proud of. But it was the way we ran things that made it special for us, and for the folk who hung out there.
When we thought about it, there were things about the way we thought and behaved that underpinned its strengths. When we captured those in The Encouragement Manifesto, it felt as though the values would be transferable; it might be possible to take the ideas and design a ‘something’ around them. But if we did, what would it be?
It got us thinking; if Feasts + Fables was a place, what would it look and feel like?
First and foremost, ‘Feasts + Fables’ would be a place to live.
Inspired by the simplicity of The Sawmill at Glen Dye, it would be a collection of buildings that adds up to way more than the sum of the parts. It would feel like a ‘deconstructed’ house. Functions broken out into separate facilities. The people who stay there move between them, soaking up the benefits of the surroundings as they carry out the functions of living. ‘Feasts + Fables — the place’ — would celebrate blurred lines between areas; each space would have the possibility of being something else. Transitional spaces, inspired by Japanese architecture. Bringing the outside in and taking the inside out. Permeable.
Trees … it would be nestled within a forest, a small wood. There would be running water; the opportunity for river swimming from a platform, which would house a log-burning hot tub. Sounds and smells of the outdoors wrapping themselves around you. Nature would be at the heart of it and it would be in the heart of nature. Gardens would produce crops to sustain the ‘here and now’. Trees would be planted for the future. Natural materials; reused stone and wood from previous dwellings or buildings. Sustainable services.
A central ‘hub’. Longhouse style, open to the ceiling. Simply designed and furnished. The communal space. A place for gathering and sharing; sharing food, conversations, ideas and inspiration. The kitchen and dining space. The smell of great coffee in the air. Interchangeable spaces for relaxing, working, meeting. A place to draw people together. An analogue space. Part restaurant, coffee house, gallery, library, studio, concept store.
Simplicity and calm at its heart.
Federated functions spread throughout the available space. A block for showers, toilets, sauna, laundry. An outdoor shower. Close to nature. Utilising sustainable solutions. Re-using waste water. Low environmental impact. Small ‘studios’. Live/work pods. Work/live spaces. You choose. Simply furnished. Minimal. Clever, duel-purpose design. Re-purposed buildings or standalone ‘modern bothies’. Wood.
Flooded with light. Inspiring places.
Walking trails. Bicycle parking. Making it natural to be outdoors, in fresh air. (electric charging points; but reward for not travelling by road). Outdoor cooking and dining. A long table. A sail ‘roof’ with open sides. Eating outdoors. A ‘range’ for cooking over fire. Log piles and axes. Lanterns and candles. Wood smoke.
It would have the seasons at the heart of it, influenced by and changing with them; celebrating with and adapting to them. Something of the spirit of the Ethicurean Restaurant imbued in the ever-adapting ‘menu’ it offers.
‘Feasts + Fables’ would be a place for slow conversations. For speaking and listening. For teaching and learning.
A place for being.
Humans being not always humans doing.
It would be a place you would feel reluctant to leave. A home opened up generously and welcomingly. A place for creating connections … and for creative connections.
It was incredible to see what we achieved with our high street adventure when we allowed serendipity to wash over us. This unexpected pause has got us wondering what a future might look like if we planned a dream into existence.
