PCMS Design has recently been involved in an interesting pub-based project in the Iffley Fields area of Oxford. The Chester is an old Edwardian building with lots of character and period detail, situated on a corner in terraced residential streets. The pub closed in the summer of 2012, but an enterprising developer took on the site, simultaneously gaining planning permission to renovate and extend the pub and also to construct a pair of semi-detached houses in the car park.
Following extensive refurbishment work and also the demolition of the old kitchen and its reconstruction on a different footprint, the pub has now re-opened. Our role was to discharge a number of planning conditions, procure suitable local builders and also to provide project management and CDM services during the renovation. The build involved a collaborative effort between the developer, builder, pub tenant and ourselves.
The new tenants have an innovative approach to running the pub, which provides a meeting place for the local community during the day, incorporating a café and corner shop stocking local produce. Then in the evenings and at weekends, The Chester transforms into a pub serving a lively and eclectic menu and real ales. The interiors are modern and welcoming.
We wish the new owner and tenants every success for the future.
A Buckinghamshire family was delighted recently to be granted planning consent for extension works to their picturesque thatched home.