Thirteen

Proving we could remove a Bomb Shelter to build a Bar

Architect: Grapes Design
Budget: £1 million
Completed 2022

Located on a prime corner plot on Denmark Street, this building previously served as a Job Centre and later a café before being transformed into a new bar and club. Originally constructed in the early 1930s as a government building, the basement housed a compartmentalized air raid shelter that has been preserved and repurposed for storage.

This project involved a careful assessment of the building's structural integrity and the removal of any unnecessary additions to create an open-plan club space in the basement, while also renovating the ground floor for its new purpose. The building's construction is typical of its era, with heavy masonry walls around the perimeter, an internal steel frame encased in concrete, and reinforced concrete hollow-pot floors.