THE FOUNTAIN

Thank you for your interest in the proposals for The Fountain Pub and Hotel at 125-127 West Green Road. This webpage, created by Studio Kyson on behalf of the Pub and Hotel owner, provides an overview of the proposed development plans for the site. We encourage all interested parties to explore the details and share any constructive feedback.

The Fountain Pub is a community asset that has been present on the site for nearly 100 years. As with many pubs across London, in the past The Fountain has adapted to suit the changing shifts in society such as: the introduction of the ‘reformed pub movement’, the late 20th Century social drinking boom, the introduction of sports licensing, the 2007 smoking ban etc. However, following the significant shift in social drinking patterns following the Covid 19 Pandemic, The Fountain Pub needs to change once more as the current size and provision of the pub is no longer sustainable.

The proposals outlined above will require planning permission. We plan to submit a planning application to Haringey Council this year, incorporating and benefiting from the community’s feedback.

Any feedback must be provided by 31st October 2024, instructions for leaving feedback are included at the bottom of this webpage.

A Public Consultant event is being held at The Fountain Pub on Wednesday 23rd October between 2:00 and 5:00pm.

DEVELOPMENT SUMMARY

The proposal aims to secure the long-term future of the Fountain Public House by implementing several key improvements:

1 The pub’s current footprint will be reconfigured and downsized to create a more manageable and efficient layout, enhancing operational effectiveness and offering more focused facilities for patrons.

2 The external pub garden will be relocated to the front of the building, improving the overall patron experience and enhancing the appearance of the street.

3 16 hotel rooms will be added within the new hotel wing. This hotel extension will not only support the pub but also benefit local restaurants, shops, and other amenities in the area.

4 The addition of hotel rooms is expected to increase local employment opportunities.

TETLOW KING PLANNING

Tetlow King Planning Ltd is a leading town planning and development consultancy operating nationwide with over 35 years’ experience advising a range of clients on all types of development, with particular specialisms in housing and care.

STUDIO KYSON

As architects Studio Kyson has a wealth of experience when dealing with the sensitive restoration and redevelopment of heritage buildings, ensuring their careful treatment is of primary concern to the benefit of their long term future preservation and use.

The practice has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards, most notably twice finalist in the AJ Retrofit awards that recognises the careful renovation of historic buildings.

THE FOUNTAIN PUB SITE AND HISTORY

The Fountain Pub site was first in existence in 1843. In 1843 no.125 was formed of brewery yards and buildings whereas no.127 existed as a cottage. At this time the site was owned by Peter Grant and the Pub was occupied by Thomas Hall. The cottage at no.127 was occupied by John Chamberlain. By 1851 the cottage may have been acquired for the residence of Beer Housekeeper, Elizabeth Hale.

By 1911 Nos.125 and 127 had been acquired by the Taylor, Walker & Company brewery based in Limehouse. The Lloyd George Domesday indicates the company acquired an 80-year lease of Nos. 125 and 127 in 1891. As such it is more than likely that Taylor, Walker & Co Ltd rebuilt the pub on the site of the double plot in the 1920s. The building has the appearance of an ‘improved pub’, synonymous with the Reformed Pub Movement and typical of those rebuilt or built anew by the big brewery companies during the inter-war period. This was very common in cities to clean up the image of drinking houses as places for responsible social interactions with opportunities for pub sports (billiards, darts, skittles, etc.) as well as drinking and possibly pub food.

The original pub was the location of the single-story element of the 1920s pub building, with the Fountain extended in the form of a guest / free house on the site of No. 127. The first-floor accommodation was completed in the last 10 years to give the appearance that exists to date.

Research indicates that the generic pub name ‘The Fountain’ is a reference to the brewing process and the source of any the good ale / sought-after tipple served at licensed premises in the UK. Thus popular pub names associated with the brewing business include the Hand and Bottle, Barrel, Malt Shovel, Brown Jug, and the Three Tuns. The Foutain is another such name. The existing fountain located in the rear pub garden dates from the late 20th Century and is not a working fountain. It was likely installed in the late 1990s to reference and reinforce the pub's name, which in turn, homage to the business of brewing beer rather than anything resembling a fountain in the vicinity.

Red line boundary of our site

Historic photograph of previous building , circa 1896

Historic photograph of The Fountain before construction of first and second floor extension, circa 1970s

Three Stage Development

The following sets out the three principles of the development required to ensure the pub’s future.

The Pub footprint is currently oversized for the amount of patrons it serves. The size of Pub is to be downsized to a more manageable scale, providing more focused facilities for the patrons. The existing rear pub garden is oversized and under-used. It is proposed for the pub garden facilities to be relocated to the front of the Pub and for the improved external landscaping and seating to provide the pub with a far greater street presence that can far better serve to improve the immediate setting and local area as a whole.
The existing hotel is to be extended in the location of the existing rear pub garden to provide 16 new hotel rooms where the guests will be encouraged to use the pub facilities all the more. No in-house catering facilities will be provided by the hotel encouraging guests to use the pub facilites and local amenity facilites alike, to the benefit of the local community.
The hotel extension is designed to achieve high sustainability credentials and increase biodiversity across the site in line with local and national planning policies, whilst also setting a precedent for high quality, sustainable architectural design in the area.
Due to the proximity of the neighbouring dwellings to the West of the site much consideration was given to the height of the new hotel development. The overall height was limited to two storeys ensuring a 25 degree outlook splay (in line with BRE guidance) from the existing dwellings is not compromised.
The existing pub frontage is elegantly detailed and retains many of the existing historic features. The proposed development will see the rejuvenation of this facade along with minor alterations and improvements to best celebrate the building and bring it back to its original intentions.

PUBLIC HOUSE PROVISION

The pub provision will be upgraded to provide improved interior and exterior facilities. The proposed alterations will be delivered in a manner appropriate for the building, paying reference to its 1930s origins. Many of the original Art-Deco features, both on the front facade and internally, will be retained and restored where necessary.

The pub footprint is proposed to be reduced in scale to more closely suit the number of patrons that now frequent the pub following the cultural shift in the wake of the Pandemic. The existing area of the pub that houses pool tables and slot machines which are no longer desirable, will be removed, with the focus shifted more to the indoor seating area to the front of the pub. A closer relationship between the indoor and outdoor seating areas will provide a more harmonious layout and circulation.

With the relocation of the pub garden to the front of the site, current issues with late night noise disturbance to near by residences to the South will be mitigated. With improved branding and signage the contemporary outdoor social facilities introduce a strong focal point and social connection to the locality, rejuvenating the local context and providing a positive impact to the surrounding area.

HOTEL PROVISION

The hotel extension set within the existing pub garden will provide 16 new hotel rooms split over two floors. The new extension has been designed to achieve an ‘excellent’ BREEAM rating through the incorporation of many sustainable features such as on-site energy production, natural ventilation systems, rainwater harvesting, sustainable drainage system, enhanced water management, air source heat pumps. The primary construction will be cross-laminated timber (CLT) set on a modular grid finished in timber framework and panelling to create a sensitive, sustainable and energy efficient intervention. The extension will introduce a high uplift in biodiversity through introduction of intensified green roof and pergola planting as well as the introduction of a secluded courtyard for hotel guests focused around the existing trees.

The proposals seek to introduce high levels of biodiversity into the site to encourage wildlife in line with governmental aspirations to bring wildlife back into our built environments. The exiting site has very little biodiversity, save for the two large trees in the rear pub garden and to the South of the site is a large communal garden serving the council-owned housing block. The proposed development seeks to inter-connect with and extend the existing biodiversity through the following enhancements in order to achieve a large increase in onsite biodiversity:

HISTORIC FABRIC IMPROVEMENTS

The existing built fabric of The Fountain Pub is an good example of early 20th Century architectural design with well proportioned bay windows set within English Garden-wall bond brickwork. Two large-scale bay windows dominate the ground floor, with celebrated entrance doors either side, where as four smaller, well proportioned bay window with stone quoins dress the first floor. Two large ornamental dormers are set within a steep-pitched clay tile roof and straddled by three sets of brickwork chimney stacks.

The ground floor has a prominent, profiled signage fascia board with green, glazed tiling beneath, typical of the Art Deco period style. The original signage pediment is still present, set atop the fascia. The recent extension above the pediment has been well-embedded into the original built form.

The facade is in generally good condition, however there are signs of fatique and weathering that gives the building a tired look. All original signage has been removed and replaced with innappropiate alternatives that negatively dominate the building’s appearance. The street frontage comprises of a disordered, hard-paved landscape used for adhoc parking and visible waste storage bins. The addition of modern building paraphanalia such as alarm boxes and plant hangings further detract from the original intentions.

PROPOSED FABRIC IMPROVEMENTS

The existing brickwork and roof tiling will be cleaned and repaired where requried to give a fresh look to the overall facade. The revised landscaping layout provides new floor paving that celebrates both the Pub and Hotel entrances as separate entities. A new street sign will be installed, design in a more authentic, period manner that more closely references the origin street sign. New Victorian-style railings will be introduced to the front boundary to better define the pub garden from the street, with green landscaping introduced by way of low level hedging and potted planters.

New signage will be introduced, in line with the Westminster Shopfront Design Guide and traditional-style canopy awnings will provide a feeling of enclosure to the pub garden, adding both character and functionality.

It is the intentions that all such repairs and improvements will introduce an enhanced presence for the Pub within the immediate streetscene.