Presentation: Wednesday 20th October 2010, 12.15pm - The Brewery Tap, 52-54 Lower Bridge Street, Chester, CH1 1RU
CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, has today announced the winners of the prestigious Pub Design Awards 2009, in association with English Heritage and the Victorian Society.
Two pubs were singled out as 'winners' by the judges in the awards this year. The Sutton Hall, Macclesfield won the 'Refurbishment' category and The Brewery Tap, Chester won both the 'English Heritage Conservation' category and the 'Conversion to Pub Use' category.
The Trent Navigation Inn, Nottingham was 'Highly Commended' in the 'Refurbishment' category and 3 pubs were 'Commended' for their design work - The Castle Bar, Cockermouth and Dyneley Arms, Otley in the 'Refurbishment' category and The Midnight Bell, Holbeck in the 'Conversion to Pub Use' category.
CAMRA's National Pub Design Awards began in 1983, and over the years has remained dedicated to championing pubs showing vision, imagination and a level of restraint in their design.
Dr Steven Parissien, an architectural historian, author, and one of the competition judges, said:
"CAMRA's National Pub Design Awards have always championed the pressing need to preserve and enhance our invaluable historic pub stock, which does so much to shape and define our environment. Pubs give us a sense of identity, of belonging and of continuity in an ever-changing, fiscally-stringent world. They are an inexpensive as well as an invaluable resource."
Refurbishment category
Winner - Sutton Hall, Macclesfield
Highly Commended - Trent Navigation Inn, Nottingham
Commended - Castle Bar, Cockermouth and Dyneley Arms, Otley
The Pub Design Award judges report on Sutton Hall:
Sutton Hall is a fine seventeenth-century building with a timber-framing, stone walls and herringbone brickwork. Listed Grade II, it was the birthplace of the famous Elizabethan chronicler Ralph Holinshed and, more recently, the family home of the notorious Earls of Lucan.
The important old house had been sympathetically treated by Brunning and Price, and its history painstakingly researched before work began. The Victorian room plan has, encouragingly, been retained: thus each of the many rooms has its different size and character, so there is something for everyone. As an example of turning a large and highly significant rural building into a thriving real-ale gastropub it serves as a splendid role-model.
English Heritage Conservation category and Conversion to Pub Use category
Winner - The Brewery Tap, Chester
The Pub Design Award judges report on The Brewery Tap:
The Brewery Tap is a remarkable building. Designated Grade II listing* - so in the top ten per cent of Britain's invaluable listed building stock - it started life as a medieval townhouse, with an undercroft at street level and a two-storey-height great hall on the first floor, and metamorphosed into shops, a school, a meeting hall, a cafe and a Pizza Express before converting into a pub. King Charles I stayed in this building from 23rd-26th September 1645 at which time the Battle of Rowton Moor took place close to the city, a decisive battle in the Civil War.
Commended (Conversion to Pub Use category) - The Midnight Bell, Holbeck
Unfortunately due to the discretion of the judges, no awards were presented this year in the New Build or CAMRA's Joe Goodwin Award categories.
Steven Parissien concluded, "This year's winners comprise of a wide range of fine old building which have been rescued - often in the nick of time - from years of shameful neglect, and which have been restored to a deservedly central place at the heart of the local community. All of our winners have been transformed into vibrant and successful pubs without the investment of the vast wads of cash which less enlightened owners still seem to find available for ill-judged and short-term restorations."
View the Photo Gallery for the Pub Design Awards 2009.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
The Pub Design Awards 2009 presentation will take place on Wednesday 20th October, 12.15pm at The Brewery Tap, 52-54 Lower Bridge Street, Chester, CH1 1RU.
Members of the press are welcomed at the event. There will be photo and interview opportunities available. If you wish to attend, please contact Tony Jerome, CAMRA's Senior Press Manager, on 07736948186 or tony.jerome@camra.org.uk
The Pub Design Awards 2009 categories:
Conversion to Pub Use: This is where an existing building is converted to pub use. Pubs are judged on the taste and restraint used on both the outside and inside of the pub.
Refurbished Pub: Refurbishment can range from a complete gutting and replacement to an enhancement of what was originally there. Refurbishment should suit the individual pub and not be an excuse to use uniform furnishings to brand the pub with brewery or pub companies image.
CAMRA / English Heritage Conservation award: This award, sponsored by English Heritage, is usually given for work which conserves what is good in the pub to ensure its future for generations of customers.
Nominations for the Pub Design Awards are made by members of the public and CAMRA branches
For further information:
CAMRA Press Office: 01727 798443
Tony Jerome, CAMRA's Senior Press Manager: 07736 948186
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