FOCUS: Curating creative spaces

Thursday 18 July 2024

An archaeology alumnus, Clare Clarke’s university experience revolved around rocks, excavation and an eye for detail… but now she is rocking the local interiors world, with her own brand, Pebble.

She spoke to Elodie Redoulès about her passion for “interiors, fashion and lovely things” and her approach to curating creative spaces…

Located at Charing Cross, Pebble is a haven of stylish clothing, furniture, and home décor. Since its inception as a clothes shop on Market Street, the business has expanded into various other avenues, including furniture design and interior design for homes as well as commercial premises.

It all started in 2009 as a one-woman band.

Pictured: Clare Clarke studied archaeology at university before shifting focus to interior design.

After university, Clare went to work in human resources for a big American company after leaving uni. However, when she found herself at a crossroads, she decided to finally pursue her dream of opening her own store.

“I just always knew I wanted to have my own business somewhere deep inside of me, but, in life you do not always get to follow your dreams straight away,” she recalled.

“The catalyst was returning to Jersey when my dad was quite ill. I could have stayed in the corporate world, but I decided that life was too short, I researched the hell out of opening a shop and I jumped in.

Pictured: Clare started Pebble in 2009 as a one woman band.

“The creative passion had always been there. I never felt comfortable in the corporate world and the moment I opened up my shop, it never felt like work. I never had that bad feeling on a Sunday night about returning to work.

“My job is brilliant, I love it. You do, in a weird way, make a difference in people’s lives. I love when people come into the store and say ‘this is such a calm and peaceful, nice environment to be in.’ Creating a nice environment for people is at the root of what we do, it’s important that people come into our space and feel good!”

Having outgrown the original premises on Market Street, the team moved to Charing Cross in 2020, where they created a concept store. “We want to show ‘this is how your house could look, feel and smell’,” Clare said. “It’s a shop, a storeroom, a concept store and an interior design studio.”

Pictured: Pebble aims to create spaces that are "nice environments for people to be in.

The move to bigger premises also enabled the team to grow as two interior designersjoined. Since then, INTERIORS by Pebble has taken on bigger projects, such as restaurants. Recently, they worked on Izakaya in Liberty Wharf and are currently working on another one.

“It is nice for customers to have access to a team of interior designers,” Clare said. “We have two people dedicated to interior design, plus me. We share the projects as they come, depending on our skills. We are all involved, and we all have a different style, so the Pebble style has evolved with the team.

“I would say our style is quite calm and light, neutral, with a natural aesthetic. There are lots of neutral, natural earthy tones, it’s comfortable but not opulent, and it’s relaxing.

“People go to an interior design studio because they are drawn to the style. Some of the projects are not obviously ‘Pebble’ and it’s nice to stretch our creative juices. As a business, we are not especially known for these sorts of things, but we want to expand people’s expectations.”

Pictured: Pebble's style is "calm and light, neutral, with a natural aesthetic"

Recently, the team worked with local entrepreneur Benjamin Strange on The Cultured, a workspace for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and remote workers located on Waterloo Lane – a location some may remember as the Project52 speakeasy.

The team are keen on restoring the historic beauty of the area, which has deteriorated over the years, and are working with Jersey Heritage, architects and archaeologists on maintaining the lane’s iconic cobbled surface.

Clare’s job, meanwhile, was to take care of the interior – transforming it into a clean and calming place mixing Scandi vibes with Japanese design.

The Cultured has four distinct spaces geared to social work, as well as dedicated desks, meeting rooms, and coworking spaces.

Pictured: The team has expanded and designed interiors for businesses and restaurants around the island.

“This is the kind of space I wanted to work from, I never liked the more formal type of office,” Clare commented. “Our team actually work from there now, it’s a place to go for meetings!”

“There are a lot of creatives in the island and a lot of entrepreneurial people who are not working in a normal way, such as in social media,” she continued. “This is a really nice, calm space for them to work from. Serious work still happens there. It’s a less formal environment but it does not mean the work is any less important.

“In my previous life, the company I worked for had some offices in Denmark, they were so ahead of the curve, their offices were like homes andsuch nice spaces to be in.

"You cannot underestimate how that impacts productivity. Some people do not necessarily think it’s a thing they should spend money on, but I would argue it should be higher up the list.”

With the success of The Cultured, Clare is convinced more should pop up around the island.

“As humans, we are social beings, there is a need to get together,” she said. “The Cultured is about getting a curated group of people together,largely small businesses.

"When you run a small business, you do not have that many people to bounce off and here you have a team of people who do almost the same thing in a different industry, that’sreally exciting.

“There’s lots of great things happening in Jersey now and spaces are needed for these people to work in. They do not necessarily want to work in a coffee shop. For me it’s about meeting other entrepreneurs and sharing ideas!”