Hall & Woodhouse Portishead has been named as the winner in Newbuild Pub category at the national Pub Design Awards run by Camra.
One of the awards' rarest honours, this is the first time since 2006 that judges have chosen a winner.
Colin Wood, project manager at Hall & Woodhouse, comments: “I am over the moon that Hall & Woodhouse has won this prestigious award. It is the culmination of a fantastic year for Hall & Woodhouse Portishead. It is in our psyche to do things a little differently to the mainstream in meeting the needs of our guests.
"The design is a tribute to an ambitious Hall & Woodhouse prepared to back this wonderful, innovative design by MackenzieUntitledWheeler.
“One of the most pleasing aspects is how supportive the local community has been. Initially, I had loads of calls and emails pleading for a pub restaurant, so I shared the early designs and there wasn’t a negative voice among them. That helped our confidence to proceed, and now that it has come to fruition, I’m delighted to say that many have adopted Hall & Woodhouse Portishead as their own. I now see familiar faces on my visits which is great,” finished Colin.
Judges of the coveted awards were delighted to be able to announce a Newbuild Pub award for Hall & Woodhouse’s brave new project, praising the building as “visually striking”, and looking “entirely at home on the quayside”. Designed by London-based architects Mackenzie Wheeler, the contemporary bar-restaurant which overlooks Portishead Quays Marnia, was built using 28 recycled shipping containers to reflect its stunning dock-side location pay homage to the quays’ industrial marine heritage.
Dr Steven Parissien, one of the competition’s judges and an expert in pub design, had this to say on the quality of winners: “This year’s award winners are an engagingly distinct set of buildings and locations, ranging from a reborn rural village pub, via two delightful station watering holes, to two classic, back-street urban locals.
"Such diversity is exactly what the pub is all about, defining the life-affirming variety that lies at the heart of this marvellous and peculiarly British concept. And as the icing on the cake, the judges were even able to present a Newbuild award for the first time since 2006.”