In 2019, we were commissioned by an international events agency to produce a bespoke dinner for 180 distinguished guests at one of the world's most recognised cultural institutions. The brief was to create an evening without precedent.

The British Museum's Great Court offered extraordinary architecture and a strict set of constraints. Museum guests clear the building at 6pm. Evening guests arrive at 7pm. That sixty-minute window is the only time available for installation and it was this that defined everything about how we planned the event.

Access began at 7am. The entire day was spent back of house: coordinating dual kitchen teams, each overseen by its own head chef and both managed by a single Executive Chef responsible for synchronising service across 180 covers. The menu had been designed with the room in mind, an organic garden concept threading through each course, from beetroot-glazed salmon with smoked salmon mousse, heritage beetroots and wild flowers through to Japanese wagyu with truffle-centred ravioli, closing with a nitro rhubarb granita.The wine list was equally considered, Ruinart Blanc de Blancs on arrival, Chablis Bas de Chapelot Vocoret and Miraval rosé through dinner, a full non-alcoholic cocktail menu served exclusively by a dedicated non-alcoholic team. That separation was a client request, planned for and rehearsed in full. The service plan was mapped and colour-coded by kitchen, by team, and by table section. Ninety minutes to deliver all courses and wine pairings to 180 guests, with no margin for error.

Every element was specified to the event design and the room. China, glassware and cutlery were purchased, chairs were shipped in from Amsterdam. Maitre Ds and hostesses, one of each per table, wore custom suits and dresses purchased specifically for the evening.

The projection mapping that enveloped the Great Court's architecture in cinematic imagery required five evenings of preparation. The client hired the building for five consecutive days, so that the technical team could build and dismantle projection towers each night once museum guests had left, mapping content onto the reading room and testing the full visual programme in the hours available to them. The entire installation was turned around in under sixty minutes on show day and the entire experience lasted only three hours.