Information about this scheme

At the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Nidd, Nun Monkton was once an important trade hub for the medieval river transport network but increase in road travel eventually led to its demise. In recent years, the Grade II listed The Alice Hawthorn is the village’s last remaining pub, a critical local meeting point, had come under threat. This community-led project transforms the pub’s sustainability with the addition of twelve guest bedrooms, eight of which are around a new courtyard. The design takes its inspiration from the Norse ‘garth’ (‘grassy cloister’), creating a sense of quiet enclosure and a notional extension of the village green: a place of gathering. The design reflects the character of the informal farmsteads that surround the green. The home-grown Douglas fir framed buildings use authentic agricultural building materials to create the sense that the animals have only recently moved out. A simple and honest construction typology ensures that the project looks like the way it was built. The new timber frame buildings include the Sheds, Field Barn, Stables and Tack Room. Double member ‘cloister’ columns engage stainless steel feet sitting on cast concrete upstands and are clad in larch. The single-storey Tack Room provides shelter to the outdoor kitchen, pizza oven and pub garden bar. Each guestroom is announced externally by a hand painted motif of the room names (e.g. Saddle). Internally, the new build elements have no plaster and are lined with larch boarding and poplar plywood. Subtle distinctions between timber species are blurred by a tinted treatment. The only internal wall decorations are lino cut prints made by local children. Close, collaborative consultations with the Council and local community informed the design, with feedback acknowledged at every stage. The redevelopment has created new revenue streams for the restaurant and bar business, improved visitor footfall and dwell time and, most critically, increased propensity to spend within the local economy.

Judges’ Comments:

“This small-scale addition to a much-loved local pub is entirely in keeping with look of the local community and the need to ensure its longer-term viability.”