Cheers! Preston pub Plau wins Camra design award

Plau on Friargate has scooped the ‘Conversion Award’ in CAMRA’s prestigious Pub Design Awards.

The awards, held in conjunction with Historic England, celebrate exceptional pubs across the country that have undergone conversion or conservation work, or are newly built.

Built in 1668 as a butcher’s shop, Plau was converted into a pub in 1795. However, this closed in 1913 and only reopened as a pub after a gap of 105 years in 2018.

In 2015, the building was bought by Jeremy Rowlands, the owner of the Continental and Ferret pubs; he and his team undertook a great amount of restoration of the pub.

Camra judges said the 'highlight of this astonishing restoration is the cellar bar.'

Andrew Davison, chair of CAMRA’s Pub Design Award judging panel, said: “Jeremy Rowlands and architect/designer Rose Peploe of The Artistry House have turned a disused and run-down building into a highly attractive pub, its refurbishment informed both by the known history of the building and by features uncovered during the work.

“It uses the long narrow plan and the height of the building to the full, from the vaults in the cellar - with its reopened medieval well - to the split-level ground floor bar, with a more secluded room behind, and the dining room on the upper floor, with its open roof-trusses and boarded roof lining. All has been done with great care, and with quality materials. The result is striking - a traditional pub re-imagined for the 21st century!”

In line with current social distancing measures, all award winners will be recognised at an event hosted in CAMRA’s new virtual pub, the Red (On)Lion, by judges at 7pm on May 7. To join the event and congratulate the pub owners and designers, simply visit https://theredonlion.co.uk/bar/join/Pub-Design-Awards to book a place (space limited to first 50 participants).

Locals can digitally ‘visit’ the pubs by browsing the CAMRA library of the winners, available to view on Dropbox.

These awards are celebrated as CAMRA is underway with its #PullingTogether campaign, highlighting the initiatives pubs and breweries are using to keep themselves afloat during the coronavirus lockdown. Learn more at camra.org.uk/pullingtogether