Pub design winners named by CAMRA
The Porterhouse in London's Covent Garden has joined pubs in Edinburgh, Staffordshire, Henley-on-Thames and Bristol as winners of the Campaign for Real Ale's (CAMRA) pub design awards.
The impressive design of the Porterhouse which updates the traditional elements of pub design, was one of the reasons the pub was chosen as the winner of the conversion to pub use category.
Judge Dr Steven Parissien said: "In an era of cookie-cutter faked history, these bright and welcoming interiors serve as a shining beacon to more fainthearted patrons."
In the refurbishment section judges made a joint award to the Burton Bridge Inn in Burton-upon-Trent and Thomson's Bar in Edinburgh.
The Burton Bridge Inn was refurbished using reclaimed and recycled materials. Thomson's Bar also used salvaged materials but in a very different way - meaning the judges could not choose between the two pubs.
The CAMRA/English Heritage conservation award was presented to the Bull and Butcher in Turville, near Henley-on-Thames.
Dr Parissien said: "There is much to commend about this pub, notably the duck egg green panelling and windows, the simple clay tiles on the floor, the mix and match wooden chairs and the good, solid tables."
The Merchants Arms in Bristol, designed by Otto Designs, was given the 2001 Joe Goodwin Award for the best-restored local. The award is named after a former CAMRA chairman.
The judges wrote: "Much has been done here recently yet it looks as if the Merchants Arms has been this way for decades."
The Head of Steam in Liverpool and the Angel in Leeds were highly commended.
(Pictured: Otto Designs' Nicholas Martin (left) and Dr Parissien in the Merchant Arms)
