4Weeks

Project Timeline

100%

On Budget

86sqm

Gym Area

0 Days

Delays

Craftex was appointed to refurbish a much-loved London pub — the kind of building where the character is the product. The brief was a balancing act: modernise the bar, the trade areas and the back-of-house for today's volumes and standards, without stripping out the warmth and history that bring regulars back. We managed the project end to end, from design through to a fully operational, repainted, re-floored and re-fitted house.

The hardest part of a heritage pub refurbishment is restraint. We designed the scheme to feel like a careful evolution rather than a gut-and-replace — keeping original features where they earned their place and introducing new joinery and finishes that sit comfortably alongside them. The bar was reimagined for faster, cleaner service, but detailed so a regular walking back in would feel the place had simply been looked after, not replaced.

Older buildings don't give up their secrets until you open them. Our pre-construction survey mapped the existing structure, services and finishes, and the programme was built with contingency for the discoveries every heritage refurbishment throws up. Materials were procured to match the established aesthetic, and the works were sequenced so the messiest tasks were grouped and contained.

The build moved through strip-out, fabric repair, services upgrade, the bar and joinery installation, flooring and decoration. Craftex managed every trade directly and self-delivered the joinery, holding a consistent standard across old and new elements — the join between original and new is where a heritage job is won or lost, and that's where we concentrated the detailing.

The finished pub trades like a modern venue and feels like a piece of its neighbourhood's history — exactly the balance the brief demanded. After reopening we returned through a defined aftercare period to fine-tune the inevitable settling of a refurbished older building.

Contacts

WRITE TO TELEGRAM