How Craigie’s gave its farm shop café a ‘colourful and organic’ £200k makeover

Scottish farm shop Craigie’s has given its café area a £200k makeover, with a modern, colourful design featuring rustic elements.

The revamp comes 35 years after the retailer made its debut with one table in a converted barn in South Queensferry, Edinburgh.

In 1995, fourth-generation farmer John Sinclair took over the business from his parents, transforming it from a beef and dairy farm into growing soft fruit and vegetables.

Craigie’s then expanded over the years, adding a pick-your-own service and an adventure park, with the café opening in 2007. The farm now attracts more than 250,000 visitors a year.

Sinclair has been “immersed in farming” his whole life, he says. “Farming and family are at the heart of everything at Craigie’s Farm, where we strive to offer a complete modern farm experience to showcase the value of farming to our communities and allow them to be part of it,” says Sinclair.

The café makeover – part of a 10-year investment plan for the business – was undertaken by hospitality sector design specialist Arrange.

“We wanted the design to work in harmony with the farm shop, creating a consistent, colourful and organic look,” says Arrange MD Tim Wickens. “A space was needed that reflected the high quality of the produce on offer in the café and wider farm.”

A key objective of the project was to closer connect the café with the farm and its provenance, to create a warm atmosphere. This was achieved by reducing the light levels through the use of darker colours and adding lamp fittings that project atmospheric lighting.

The redesign makes use of rustic elements usually associated with agricultural buildings, such as barn doors and sliding window shutters, to contrast with bright fabrics.

Further rustic features include ceiling rafts of corrugated tin and rusty steel, to create a homely feel in a former meeting room that has been incorporated into the café.

To combine the exisiting café work and to add more room, a wall was replaced with two large, sliding glazed doors with reeded glass, explains Wickens. “When the doors are opened, the two rooms work in unison with one other, creating a larger-capacity restaurant.”