The Nursery Inn, on Green Lane in Stockport, is a pub with history. Built by Hydes Brewery in 1939, it is one of the few remaining inter-wars, (built between World War 1 and World War 2), pubs and retains its original layout and many original features. To recognise its historic significance CAMRA campaigned for the site to become a listed building and The Nursery was given a grade II listing in 2011 to protect this significant part of UK heritage.
Whilst a triumph for the protection of this historical site, the new Listed status created hurdles to ensuring that the pub could adapt to modern customer expectations and remain a viable business concern for its ongoing owners, Hydes Brewery. After previous failed attempts at achieving listed building consent for refurbishment works, MGI were appointed to develop detailed drawings and specifications to accompany a listed building application that would satisfy both the conservation officer and the client. After a hard-fought battle, listed building consent was granted, and the rejuvenation of the Nursery Inn could begin.
Throughout the design process, our designers took great care to ensure that the historic fabric, fixtures and fittings of the site were retained and protected wherever possible, such as the original wall tiling and terrazzo flooring throughout the WC facilities, lighting, bar serveries , fixed seating, wall panelling and the separate entrance to the “vault” bar.
New Finishes and fixtures were chosen to complement and enhance the original elements of the site with concerted effort to specify finishes that harked back to the décor of the late 1930’s but with more modern elements sensitively worked into the project to appeal to the modern customer base.
The biggest obstacle in achieving listed building approval was the proposal to move one of the existing serveries forward from its original position so as to be visible to customers entering the site, enabling staff to greet them as they enter. The Client`s appointed contractors WHB construction carefully removed the servery section in one piece and formed new end panel and over bar sections that faithfully reproduced the original materials and design. New back fittings were formed in the same manner.
Wall finishes specified were a mixture of heritage paint colours and Arts & Crafts design wall papers, with faux leather upholstery and floral prints utilised to tie the scheme together.
We at MGI are immensely proud of what has been achieved by the whole design and construction team on this project and are extremely confident in The Nursery Inn’s success as an ongoing business.
About MGI Partners
MGI Partners are an award-winning Interior design practice with decades of experience within the hospitality and commercial sectors. Our talented team have honed their skills and specialist industry knowledge to provide beautiful, commercially viable design solutions that meet our client`s specific brief and can be delivered no matter how challenging the project or budget spend is. We always put our clients first and love to work in close collaboration, to guide them through the design and construction processes to ensure we create spaces that their customers will love and want to return to again and again. With a range of services including surveying, site analysis, interior design, Visualisation, Statutory applications, branding and project management we tailor our offer to meet each client`s specific requirements.
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The Victoria has been at the heart of the Withington community for over 100 years. MGI worked closely with their clients Hydes Brewery to ensure this pub will stand the test of time by bringing up to date the interior of this late 1800 building while still retaining several of its original features.
MGI brightened up the bar servery, specified new flooring, furniture, lighting and window dressings and the walls now adorn some brighter colours and stylish wallpaper. The back of the pub was opened up to enhance sport viewing with a new darts feature that can be enjoyed by all.
The atmosphere created suits both the locals who have been a constant feature of this pub for decades while attracting the students that come through the doors every year to enjoy Manchester's drinking scene.
The design has been a great success and the pub is packed nightly with all ages and professions and will stand to serve the community of Withington for many more decades to come!
The Abel Heywood sits proudly in the Bustling Northern Quarter of Manchester City centre and has been a popular destination since it was first developed in 2015, from a derelict and fire damaged cotton warehouse, into a stylish pub and boutique hotel. After tirelessly serving its loyal customers for the past 9 years, the site’s owners, Hydes Brewery, appointed MGI to develop and project manage a refurbishment scheme that will ensure the site will maintain its status as a landmark of the Manchester hospitality industry into the future.
The brief given by Hydes’ Managing Director was to move the site from its previous industrial leaning design toward a modern-traditional public house whilst paying tribute to the history of Hydes Brewery and to Manchester's iconic music heritage.
MGI proposed the introduction of feature wallpapers, Victorian tiling and bright heritage colours in order to create a light and airy atmosphere away from its previously scumble glazed ceilings and worn plaster effect walls. All industrial light fittings were replaced with new antique brass period lighting and industrial shelving units and back fittings removed in favour of new timber back fittings and antique Victorian wall shelving.
Much of the existing furniture was given a new lease of life through refurbishment and reupholstery, with new feature furniture introduced to compliment the proposed layout changes. Feature cast resin tables with vinyl records from Manchester`s most famous bands, or Hydes' brewery beer clips were included to provide points of interest and conversation points for visiting customers. New music and local interest themed bric a brac adorns the walls and compliments the overall finish of the site.
Layout changes to the ground floor were kept to a minimum with only the removal of existing face to face booths and introduction of new horseshoe booths and mid-height fixed seating.
The underutilised first floor of the pub was redesigned to encourage dining whilst the ground floor area remains focused on drinking and light bar snacks. The introduction of bi-fold doors to close off an area of the first floor provides a contained function room space for parties and meetings.
Feedback from the client and customers has been unanimously positive and MGI are confident that The Abel Heywood will continue its reign as king in the north(ern quarter) for years to come.
It should go without saying that as the owner or operator of a business or commercial property your primary focus above all else, should be the safety of your employees and customers.
In this article we will focus on fire safety and the measures you must take to ensure you comply with required British Building Regulations.
A large proportion of hospitality and retail businesses operate out of existing buildings (although there are always exceptions), be it pub companies with their historic and aging estates, or bars and restaurants taking units on larger new developments where the main building’s fire safety requirements have already been considered and meet current regulations.
With that in mind we will focus on the factors that must be considered in order to meet current regulations in an existing building:
It must be stressed that this is only a brief overview of the various factors that should be considered to ensure full Building Regulation compliance in regard to fire safety. For the full regulations you should refer to Building Regulations Approved Document B (fire safety), but given the extent of information included we would heartily recommend that you appoint a competent designer or architect, who has the necessary knowledge and training to be able to correctly apply these requirements, and consider them at an early part of the design process.
It can so often be the case that a wonderful looking scheme plan can be stymied because an inexperienced designer didn’t consider the necessary fire safety regulations, (and all building regulations for that matter), which can result in plans needing to change to ensure things such as compartmentalisation or adequate escape routes. As budgets are often set prior to moving a project forward to statutory application stages, the failure to properly consider regulatory requirements can also result in additional costs to the client, which can in turn result in not having the budget to afford those beautiful tiles or light fittings you wanted.
Listed below are a few of the various things that must be considered when approaching a commercial project to ensure necessary regulations are met. It should be noted that, dependant on the use class of your premises or if your site is within a multiple use building, there may be additional specialist requirements that must be satisfied as outlined in Approved Document Part B. It is also worth noting that, in the case of existing buildings, especially listed buildings or sites of historic interest, these regulations might be too restrictive in which case, an appropriate variation of the solution can be sought in agreement with the appointed building control inspector.
In essence this refers to fire alarms, emergency lighting and escape routes.
In most commercial properties an electronically operated fire alarm system and fire detection system is a regulatory requirement (and must comply with BS 5839-1), except in some cases where it is a small building/premises where fire may be detected by the people within the site and a shouted warning could reach all occupants. However, even in these instances, we would recommend that an electronically operated fire alarm system still be installed.
Fire alarm systems are categorised into 3 specifications (which then split into various subcategories):
A fire alarm will have electronic call points installed, usually along escape routes or near fire escapes, however, in the case of businesses with a lot of visiting customers (such as retail or hospitality units), these may be placed in positions where only staff can access them in order to prevent tampering. In order to protect the hearing impaired and protect them in the case of fire, visual and audible beacons should be utilised, especially on occasion where they may be in relative isolation from the rest of the site (say in an office back of house or in individual letting rooms for example).
When designing a layout, the use, footprint and occupancy of the site must be considered to ensure that an adequate number of escape routes are supplied. In most cases sites should have at least 2 escape routes, however in smaller sites or sites with limited occupancy (up to 60) a single escape route is acceptable as long as it is within the required travel distance, (essentially the distance from the furthest point in the room to the fire escape).
Approved document B provides limits on travel distance, subject to the site`s designated use and number of potential escape routes. If the site only has one escape route the travel distance is greatly reduced, whereas a greater number of escape routes increase the overall allowable travel distance.
It should be noted that the travel distance is not the distance to get you out of the building, but rather the distance to get to another protected area. For example if you were in a small office space, the travel distance is that required to get out of the office into a corridor, assuming that the office door is correctly fire rated (more on that later). Once in the corridor the Travel distance “resets” subject to the number of potential escape routes from that corridor, or the length of the corridor itself. In corridors that exceed the maximum travel distance fire doors may be installed at intervals to ensure maintenance of the protected route.
In properties where your business might be operating across two or more floors, the vertical means of escape (i.e. stairs and lifts) must also be considered. In general, the property should have multiple means of vertical escape although there are allowable dispensations under certain circumstances, for example in smaller properties where the footprint of each floor does not exceed 280 sqm or when escaping from a basement level when the basement in question meets the requirement to reach a storey exit within the allowed travel distance (for a single escape route) and has an occupancy of no more than 60 people. Lift shafts should be suitably lined to prevent the vertical spread of flame between floors.
In properties with multiple use classes, for example a Pub with a flat above, separate vertical escape route should be supplied for each use-class, or a suitable solution found to protect the common shared escape route. In many pubs across the nation the means of escape from the first-floor flat can often be through the ground floor pub. In these cases, adequate protection should be provided in the ground floor trade areas to ensure an effective escape route or best practice would be to provide a secondary escape route by means of a secondary internal escape stair or an external fire escape staircase wherever possible.
Internal Protected stairs should be properly compartmentalised with self-closing fire doors to the top and bottom and linings to walls, ceilings and the underside of stairs to current regulations requirements.
To ensure protection on escape routes and proper compartmentalisation all doors should be fire rated, with any vision panels in the doors being correctly rated to the same manner. Generally, in hospitality and retail businesses doors to either a 30-minute or 60-minute rating are sufficient although in certain circumstances doors with a 90 minute rating are available. In addition, Fire doors should be on suitable self-closers to ensure the doors swing closed once customers or staff have passed through them to maintain compartmentalisation and prevent or delay the spread of the fire.
Doors should always open in the direction of escape to ensure ease of egress, or in certain areas, such as back of house where only staff will use them as an escape route, doors can swing inward however should be addressed within the management risk assessment and procedures.
Doors on escape routes should also be either:
In general, this means internal doors should be fitted with simple push plates and external doors fitted with “panic bar” fittings. When the business is not trading or empty these doors can be locked, however must be unlocked at all times during trading hours and addressed within the management risk assessments and procedures as noted above.
Doors with electronic locks should be connected to the fire alarm system to automatically unlock them in the event of fire.
Other general provisions on means of escape should include a minimum clear headroom of 2m, suitable flooring to minimise slippiness. Final fire exits should have at least the same minimum width as the escape route it serves and, where ramps are present on escape routes, should meet the provisions described in Approved Document M (access to and use of buildings).
All Escape routes must have adequate artificial lighting that stays illuminated if the main electricity supply fails conforming to BS-5266-1 and Fire escape signage confirming to BS ISO 3864-1 and BS 5499-4.
The intent of the regulations surrounding internal fire spread is to limit or restrict the spread of flame over internal linings (e.g. ceilings, walls, floors etc). The building fabric should make a limited contribution to fire growth including a low rate of heat release.
This is particularly important in main circulation spaces, (in the case of hospitality and retail these are considered the main “trade” areas and access corridors), where linings may contribute to the main spread of flame and potentially prevent occupants from escaping.
In older buildings common with public houses and city centre multi-use sites, and especially listed buildings, where it is not necessarily possible to prove the rating of existing walls and ceilings it may be necessary to paint all surfaces in a suitable intumescent or fire rated paint to ensure the necessary classification is achieved.
The intent of these regulations is prevent, or limit the spread of fire throughout the structure of a building. This can be broken down into the following categories:
As an example, if a fire were to break out in a letting room and penetrate the ceiling, its spread to the other letting rooms would be managed or limited by the cavity barriers in the voids. Without those barriers the fire would be able to spread freely throughout the top of the building and penetrate into all the letting rooms on that floor.
As you have no doubt gathered through reading this article, fire safety in commercial properties can be a regulatory minefield and this article only scratches the surface of the full approved document B. If you require assistance with reaching building control compliance in fire safety, or any of the other approved documents please contact the designers at MGI. We are only too happy to help.
In Italian, al fresco literally means ‘in the cold,’ but in English, it is used to mean ‘outside’ or ‘in the open’. In its native Italian, al fresco also means ‘in prison’. If you tell an Italian waiter that you’d like to dine al fresco, you may get a funny look! The UK now has a thriving outdoor, al fresco dining culture, and al fresco dining spaces are a common sight in many city centres and towns. This is, in part, a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Outdoor dining has gone from necessary to the norm.
If you have an existing external area within your site, then good news! You’re already halfway there. However, when planning the development of this land, it is necessary to know what you can do without the need for local authority permissions and what will need to go through the planning process. Simple works such as changing of floor finishes, erecting fences and screens (as long as they’re below 1m in height) and the laying out of loose furniture is usually allowable without going through the planning process, however, if your intent is to erect “permanent” fixed structures such as pergolas, fixed seating runs and occasional use outdoor/indoor rooms then seeking local authority planning approval is a necessity, unless you’re willing to risk the wrath of the council, something we never recommend.
If your site is listed or lies within a conservation area, then seeking planning authority and conservation officer approval is vital, as the risk of expensive fines is a headache any hospitality operator should want to avoid.
If you do not have your own external area within the curtilage of your site, you might wish to place furniture on the pavement areas surrounding your building. In this case you will be required to apply for a pavement licence to place tables, chairs, and other furniture on local authority owned land. Rules and regulations can vary from region to region, so you will need to check whether you need to apply for a licence before you get started. You may face restrictions on how big the furniture can be. The furniture you use is required to be removable, not be a fixed structure, and be able to be stored away in the evening. You will also have to leave an amount of pavement space free for pedestrian traffic, and clearly mark the borders of your outdoor seating area. When applying, you’ll need to supply a site plan and a public liability insurance certificate. You may be subject to fines if you fail to meet the requirement or fail to pay the licence fee. If your customers want to eat outdoors, they are likely to want to drink outdoors, too. If you’re planning to start selling alcohol at your restaurant, make sure you’ve got the appropriate licences to do so.
If you decide to add an al fresco dining space to your bar or restaurant, make sure to follow these top tips for making your outdoor area a lovely place to lounge:
It’s always important to have a well thought out floor plan that allows for efficient service and optimal guest satisfaction. With dining having evolved over the years into an al fresco experience, it is now more important than ever to be able to provide this offering as a restaurant, bar, or café owner. Including awnings or outdoor rooms allow you to expand your space and provide the same great dining experience in the open air.
Whilst this expands the number of customers that you can cater for and your revenue, you want to ensure the experience outside is just as good as it is inside. Awnings and canopies allow you to protect customers from the weather and feel comfortable whilst dining outside, however it’s no good increasing the number of covers to your venue if the quality of your service starts to fall. When developing your external area, you must also consider whether your existing service areas (catering kitchen, bar serveries, WC`s etc) and staff numbers are able to cope with the increase in customer footfall.
Not only can awnings and pergolas be used for the day to day running of your establishment, but they are also a great addition to create a feature area for outdoor functions and events to generate additional revenue for the business. An awning is also a great solution to provide a sheltered, comfortable smoking area whilst allowing non-smoking customers to be outside or inside too.
If you need any assistance on designing you al fresco dining experience, do not hesitate to get in touch with MGI. We have a vast portfolio of case studies displaying our experiencing in designing successful outdoor spaces for your establishment.
Successful spacing through interior design is achieved by the interior designer being involved in choreographing the sequence of a space. By doing this, it ensures that a project reflects a single design approach by a fluent design being fathomed by the architect and designer together. It is essential for all parties involved to understand the relationship between all rooms, plans and the cross section of the building.
Within hospitality design there is a vast number of aspects an Interior Designer should consider, such as, adjacencies (within design, this refers to the connection between two spaces or elements. The term can be used to describe both physical and visual relationships. In a physical sense, adjacencies are determined by how easily one can move from one space to another), catering layout, lighting, acoustics, and furniture to name a few.
As Designers, we ensure that we are familiar with each of these aspects, especially within spatial planning and dimensional criteria for seating layouts. The key to understanding and designing an all-encompassing, fluent, and functional space is to understand a venue’s core concepts. This concept often comes from our team working closely with the client to establish a clear and cohesive experience for the desired customer.
Something as simple as spacing between tables can go a long way to creating an atmosphere within a venue. Restaurants and bars that offer a full dining experience often provide ample space between tables for a more relaxed atmosphere. While a site such as a fast-food restaurant or coffee chain maximise the number of their tables, and therefore customers, to create a bustling, high tempo environment.
Use of different finishes and materials helps to define individual spaces within a venue, hard finishes are more suitable to busy bar venues where materials need to endure the vigour of nightlife trade, whereas softer finishes lend them-selves better to intimate dining situations or more laid-back relaxed drinking venues such as high-end cocktail bars. When it comes to specifying internal finishes, our wealth of experience ensures that all finishes are chosen to satisfy the individual requirements of each project and client. It is of the upmost importance that the highest quality finishes are specified within budget.
Whilst ensuring that materials and finishes are aesthetically appealing, it is of equal importance that the material an Interior Designer chooses must be appropriate for its use. Care must be taken to ensure that the material is correctly Fire Rated, as economically and ecologically friendly as possible and high-traffic areas must have finishes that are more durable to last the test of time. Floor finishes must have appropriate slip ratings for their designated use and the visual contrast between finishes on walls and ceilings must be considered to enable the visually impaired can perceive potential hazards within a space.
Another aspect a designer must take into consideration is the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of specific materials once a project is handed back to the client. It is the responsibility of the interior designer to pick finishes that are easy for the client to clean and maintain, therefore ensuring they get the best value for money and a high standard of finish is maintained throughout the years.
Lighting plays a huge part in creating an atmosphere within a venue and can be cleverly utilised to define spaces or zones within an otherwise open area. Low-level mood lighting can create a fine-dining experience. Whereas brighter and whiter lights a more casual energy. Considering today’s cost of living crisis, venue owners also need to consider the energy efficiency of the lighting specified. It is often favourable for interior designers to specify warm lighting within trade areas, fluorescent flighting is more cost and energy efficient. Therefore, this could be a valuable consideration for back of house and catering areas.
The acoustics in a hospitality venue go together with the concept and desired atmosphere created and in hybrid spaces it may be necessary to define zones with different acoustic qualities. Bar areas can be noisier and livelier whilst dining area may need to be quieter to allow for ease of conversation between diners.
Hard surfaces such as ceramics, wooden tabletops and cold metal finishes can create reverberations throughout a space. To counter this a competent designer may consider the specification of sound absorptive materials such as carpets, soft furnishings, and soft wall panelling, or specialist acoustic solutions such as suspended ceilings or wall panels utilising mineral fibre board wrapped in acoustically transparent fabrics, perforated ply, or timber slats.
Another solution on how to control a space's acoustics is by separating out sections through screen or stud walls. Through careful consideration of spatial planning this way, diverse types of rooms with different noise levels can invented to accommodate various patrons.
- Work with what you have got! Time & money can be saved planning around current features of a building whilst preserving a space’s original features. - Do not forget about storage and back-of house! Your trade areas may look amazing but are useless if your venue cannot function efficiently. Therefore, when planning out your spaces, ensure you leave enough room in none trade areas too! - Be Flexible! In smaller venues and spaces, do they need to be adaptable for more than one purpose? If this is the case, loose seating, moveable furniture, and adjustable lighting levels are all successful considerations in creating different atmosphere within the same space. - Prioritise! Sometimes, however hard we try, everything desired cannot be achieved within the designated space. MGI ensure that they work closely with their clients to understand what is most important for them to have the most efficiently designed, attractive and successful space.
Award-winning commercial designers, MGI offer their expert insights for designing hospitality spaces and discuss the importance of carving a niche!
When initially contemplating a new hospitality investment (be it a pub, restaurant, hotel or other) it is important to have a clear idea of your vision and where you intend to position the business within the market place. It can be tempting for investors and designers alike to cast their eye across existing businesses in order to gauge what is currently popular and successful and attempt to carve out a piece of that success, however this can be a double edged sword.
Whilst it could be considered a “safer bet” to take cues from current trends when considering your business's offer (after all, if it ain't broke, why fix it) this does not necessarily translate into success. It's important to take into consideration that trends come and go, every “next big thing” only has a limited shelf life before the next thing rounds the bend, and hospitality is, at its core, a challenging industry where success can be gained or lost on the smallest of things. It is known that 60% of new hospitality businesses do not last past the first year and 80% go under within 5 years. For this reason a strong USP (unique selling point) and a firm focus on offer, service and design are key to help ensure that your business is not one of that 60%.
A new business that has many similarities to existing competitors may find it difficult to gain a foothold in the market as their success relies on poaching customers from the more established venues. In this instance the quality of product and service is key. When your drinks and food offers are, for the most part, comparable to your competitors, it is the manner in which your product is delivered to the customer that differentiates you from the competition. Are your staff well presented? Have they been properly trained in bar operations and customer service? Are cleaning and maintenance levels to a high standard? Is your menu well designed and your product (food/drink) well presented when delivered to the customer? All these elements and many more beside will affect whether your business thrives or flounders.
The same thought process can be applied to the design of your venue. Whether intentionally or via a form of mental osmosis, clients and designers are inevitably inspired by what came before. Rarely can a design be thought of as truly original, there are always elements drawn from other sources, albeit applied to a site in a different way, and the hospitality sector follows design trends as much as any other.
For the designers at MGI it is equally important that one eye be kept on what is happening within the hospitality industry and developing trends as it is to draw inspiration from other sectors and sources to ensure that we are able to deliver upon our client's brief whilst steering our designs, and the client's vision, toward new ground in order to ensure each completed venue can easily be differentiated from its competitors.
If you'd like to learn how MGI can assist you in every step of the development of your project, please get in touch.
MGI Partners are an award-winning Interior design practice with decades of experience within the hospitality and commercial sectors. Our talented team have honed their skills and specialist industry knowledge to provide beautiful, commercially viable design solutions that meet our client`s specific brief and can be delivered no matter how challenging the project or budget spend is.
The site of a former sunbed shop with residential accommodation on the first floor, our brief from the client was to design a space over 2 floors, and incorporating a large courtyard space, with cues taken from biophilic and sustainable design. With this in mind MGI proposed a complete strip out the interior of the site, retaining as many original features as possible, and reimagined it as a high-quality wine bar and bistro offering small plate meals and cocktails to the people of Standish.
Due to the heritage of the building and its location within the conservation area the local authority were keen to not only protect the fabric of the building but also reinstate elements that were more in keeping with its heritage status. The planning consent had numerous conditions regarding the materiality and design of external doors, windows, etc (all designed in hardwood, sliding sash windows to first floor, all to a heritage standard) and the location of extract flue from the commercial kitchen.
Extensive structural works to the existing building were required in order to open the space up and introduce a new mezzanine level providing a link between the ground and first floors and creating an impressive double height space. Furthermore, some existing features such as the timber beams have been retained in order to maintain the heritage of this building. All Finishes and Furniture specified were carefully chosen to create a rustic/ reclaimed feel to the interior of the site with industrial elements introduce through use of exposed steel, scaffold poles and scaffold planking.
In addition, to soften the space, extensive real and faux planting has been used throughout the interior. At the rear courtyard has been extensively remodelled to include an aluminium and glass canopy over a decked veranda, an external bar, stone paved patio, copper panels and laser cut screens to perimeter walls and Festoon lighting.
Formerly named the Beehive, MGI were asked to reimagine this historic traditional pub situated in the popular Liverpool One area to ensure its continued survival for years to come. The brief was to create a premium high end pub offer with a quality range of beers and an extensive cocktail list. The site was imagined to act as a hybrid offering coffee and patisserie to shoppers through the day before transforming into a vibrant night time venue in the evenings.
The name change was inspired in homage to the Futurist on lime street which had been demolished in recent years and nods to that building’s art deco design and life as a cinema from the 1930’s through to the 1980’s and is reflected in the choices of bric a brac, light fittings and tin tiling utilised throughout the interior. MGI proposed a design that retained and enhanced a number of the original features of the original building such as the bar servery and backfitting, paired with new features and finishes designed and specified to a high level to create a luxurious feel to the site.
The use of Victorian wall tiling, timber panelling and velvet upholstery and drapes, along with the liberal application of black and polished brass creates an inviting yet intimate space that welcomes its guests in a warm embrace. Highly decorative booths were formed to the rear of the site to offer areas of privacy or seclusion to small parties and are expected to be one of the most popular areas of the pub.
Due to the site's long and narrow footprint, natural lighting was previously an issue to the pub. To combat this MGI proposed the strip out and replacement of the entire ground floor shopfront with new full height glazed bi-fold doors allowing light to flood into the front of the site. Natural light was further brought into the rear of the site through the reinstatement of a previously covered over glazed roof. Despite the use of dark finishes throughout, the site now feels light and airy through the day.
Further structural works were proposed in order to maximise available trade space including opening up beneath the existing staircase and completely stripping out the existing catering kitchen and WC facilities at the rear.
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