Restaurateur Des Gunewardena will open three new venues at London’s £1.3bn Olympia redevelopment in spring 2026, marking the latest expansion of his hospitality company, D3 Collective.
The trio of openings – Idalia, Pepperbird and Upstairs at Pillar Hall – will be housed within Pillar Hall, the 30,000 sq ft Grade II* listed landmark once home to early British film screenings and fashion events in the 1980s. The investment into the building’s redevelopment will exceed £10m.
A major new hospitality hub for West London
Idalia will serve as Pillar Hall’s flagship restaurant: a 300-cover, all-day site on the ground floor with an additional fifty-seat terrace spilling into Olympia’s Grand Hall.
The restaurant has been designed as a sequence of rooms – a conservatory filled with greenery, a dedicated bar, and a warm dining room – forming what the team describes as the “House of Idalia”.
Beneath Pillar Hall, Pepperbird will operate as a seventy-cover basement speakeasy. Its identity will be shaped by live music, drawing on both 1970s jazz and Olympia’s historic ties to rock legends including Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and The Who.
On the upper levels, Upstairs at Pillar Hall will offer a double-height events venue with capacity for more than five hundred guests. The space features soaring ceilings, a mezzanine overlooking the main room, and original neoclassical detailing. On Friday nights and weekends, it will run as a restaurant and bar with live performances.
An all-female senior kitchen team
Gunewardena has appointed Samantha Williams as executive chef and Lorena Tommasi as executive pastry chef, leading an all-female senior kitchen team across the three venues.
Samantha, formerly executive chef at Jeremy King’s The Park and previously group executive chef for Angela Hartnett, will define the overall culinary direction. Lorena, whose background includes The Park, Annabel’s, George Club and Josephine by Claude Bosi, will lead on pastries and desserts at Idalia and for events.
Menus will present the pair’s modern interpretation
