FLIPDOG
project: FlipDog
location: London, United Kingdom
Year: 2026
Photo: Andriy Bezuglov
Team: Volodymyr Nepyivoda, Dmytro Bonesko, Natalia Tymoshenko, Serhii Andriyenko, Maksym Netreba
FlipDog is a cocktail bar located in the historic Imperial Hall building in London’s Shoreditch district. The interior combines the industrial character of East London with creative design solutions that create a sense of altered reality through surrealist artwork, intimate lighting, and imaginative custom-made details. The core value embodied by FlipDog is its uncompromising approach to mixology, where cocktail-making and the pursuit of new flavours exist somewhere between science and free-form art.
RETRO-FUTURISM
The venue spans across two floors of an early 20th-century building: the ground floor and the basement level. The ground floor is a bright, minimalist drinkery-style space with seating for 12 guests. Large arched windows overlooking the busy London street offer passersby a glimpse into the mixology laboratory. The silver-toned walls are finished with textured foil, while minimalist steel arches leading into the lab contrast with the warm leather upholstery of the bar counter and chairs, creating a retro-futuristic atmosphere.
LIGHT RITUAL
An interactive feature integrated above the bar counter — a thin directional beam of light that illuminates cocktails as if from within — adds a touch of magic to the experience. The lighting is activated the moment the bartender places a freshly prepared drink onto a specially marked spot on the counter. The venue’s illumination was designed by the Ukrainian company Expolight, known for its extensive experience in commercial lighting design and dozens of collaborations with YOD Group.
ATMOSPHERIC DESCENT
The main hall of FlipDog, located on the basement level, accommodates 80 guests. Descending downstairs, visitors are immersed in a comfortable semi-darkness and a dense atmosphere built through saturated colours and tactile textures.
BAR HERITAGE
The first artefact to catch the guest’s eye is a custom circular sink with an integrated cylindrical glass flask. Suspended inside transparent glycerine is a metal loggerhead — a heating tool used by 18th-century bartenders to prepare hot drinks. This museum-like exhibit communicates one of the venue’s key values: continuity of tradition and respect for bar history and mixology culture.
The gridded metal surfaces of the bar counter and tables, as well as the design of the integrated wall lighting, also pay tribute to classic bar aesthetics. The concept references a spill stop — the section of a bar counter where mixologists place cocktails so excess liquid and condensation can drain through small openings.
METAL MEMORY
The focal point of the space is a series of sofa niches upholstered in fabric featuring an exclusive print created for FlipDog by the Ukrainian artist WAONE, a member of the famous street art duo Interesni Kazki. WAONE’s pattern carries his signature surrealist aesthetic, blending philosophy, science, and mythological imagery. The artist is known for numerous murals in Kyiv, as well as international collaborations, including storefront installations for the fashion house Hermès.
FABRIC MYTHOLOGY
“For us, it was important to create a space that would win over London’s demanding audience not by imitating the city’s top bars, but by setting its own standard and offering a unique aesthetic. The cocktails mixed at FlipDog are art. Together with WAONE’s pattern and our interior design, they represent a contemporary Ukrainian vision that feels both understandable and compelling to the world,” says Dmytro Bonesco, co-owner and art director of YOD Group.
UKRAINIAN VISION
OUR TEAM
