Plans to transform an historic building into a hotel come complete with the creation of this new food and drink garden in the shadow of York Minster.
The Guy Fawkes Inn on High Petergate wants to expand into the former offices next door, creating 15 new hotel rooms and an outdoor space in what was the Masonic Hall Yard.
Formerly the home to Jackson-Stops estate agents, the Grade I listed 23 High Petergate comes complete with a handsome winding staircase and large, airy rooms.
The Masonic Hall Yard, now disused and neglected, would be turned into “an activated landscaped sitting out area (containing hard landscaping and soft landscaping) that would connect and function as part of Guy Fawkes Inn”, planning documents say.
Described as “a new outdoor food and beverage seating area” its design would echo the infamous plot of Guy Fawkes to destroy Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster.
“The conceptual approach to the new outdoor space at Guy Fawkes in has been informed, as a nod to the institution and its Protestant King that Fawkes was set on destroying, by the geometries, ornamentation and craftsmanship that so characterises the architectural style and, in particular, the examples of finely laid floors of the Palace,” designers say.
“The layout of the new space will be governed by a geometric grid, wherein spaces, furniture and planting will be organised for maximum efficient capacity and ease of circulation.”
The garden would be accessed from a new doorway created at the back of the Guy Fawkes Inn.
“The new garden will also benefit from ongoing connectivity with the adjacent South African Memorial Gardens, by way of the consented widening of an existing pedestrian gate,” the plans state.
“While current proposals do not include the formal use of the access onto the South African Memorial Gardens, the gateway will be retained and has been acknowledged in the design of the new gardens in lieu of the City of York’s stated proposals for the Memorial Gardens.”
The designers add: “This new external space will extend the offer at the Guy Fawkes Inn by way of arranged dining furniture and clusters of informal seating for groups of varying sizes for socialising and dining.
“A pergola, of simple form and detailing and incorporating subtle downlighting occupies the eastern end of the site, providing semi-covered space and shade.”
Plans for the conversion of the office space into accommodation would see “rooms of high importance… to be restored to their original plan form by removing mid 20th century cross walls or other structures”.
The front and stunning stairways would be preserved. New toilets would be created in the existing Guy Fawkes Inn.
These plans would bring a disused building back into use, the owners say.
It would have another benefit too, they claim: “This consistent occupation benefits the surrounding areas (such as the lawn on Duncombe Place) by having eyes onto the lawn, deterring unsavoury behaviour, and thus helping facilitate the adopted York Minster Precinct Neighbourhood Plan’s goal of creating a new civic square adjoining the site (Queen Elizabeth Square).”
You can read and comment on the plans here.
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