First posted Instagram 28 February 2020.

Poor ole 1925 #ElmsFamilyHotel, got #heritagelisted but not before plans were already underway to build something big on top (by @johnwardlearchitects), so it was mostly demolished – but Im pleased to see they actually kept one internal wall complete with with lovely blue #pubtiles – BUT they made the new floor level with the new building, so the bottom part of the wall is now under the new floor !

The tower itself isn’t actually directly on top so Im really mad they didn’t keep much more completely intact – I mean it’s got steps up to it from the street, could just as easily have had steps down from inside, it’s going to be a sep cafe tenancy anyway, grr grr. There’s was nice timber stair and a rear dining room with nice doors too. And they’re calling it ‘restored’, which just meant putting back the corner door and the #leadlight windows, which are v nice though.

I took a few pics in 2016 when there was a bear statue inside (!?).

The architect was @johnwardlearchitects, and the crazy zigzag stuff is apparently the roof of the pub abstracted and multiplied, but the roof is no longer there. This was approved just before new rules about not cantilevering over the ‘front portion’ of heritage buildings, so it would never have happened like this. It was also the first really extreme example, I was so surprised it was even feasible. In fact I don’t know why it wasn’t just thinner but taller.

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