News
DLG COMPLETES PHASE ONE OF FIRE DAMAGED DARLINGTON HOTEL
National practice, DLG Architects has recently completed building works on 15,000 sq ft ground floor retail units at the Kings Head hotel in Darlington. This also marks the beginning of restoration works to the fire damaged Grade II listed Victorian hotel that is situated on the upper floors. Following a major fire in August 2008, DLG Architects was instructed by Darlington Northgate Ltd to coordinate the reinstatement of the 40,000 sq ft hotel and along with a team of professionals obtain appropriate planning and statutory consents. The primary objective of the building work is to reinstate the hotel, function suites, ballroom and retail units to pre-fire condition. DLG has consulted closely with the Planning Authority, Darlington Borough Council Building Control and County Durham and Darlington Fire Brigade to establish appropriate measures and internal alteration that will ensure the reinstatement works are consistent with the Listed Building and also fully compliant with current Building Regulations. Martin Cranage, director at DLG Architects comments: “There are very few hotels with function facilities in the centre of Darlington. As such, the restoration works at Kings Head are a priority for the vitality of Darlington Town Centre to reinstate the hotel and its function facilities. “It is pleasing to see the first phase completed in a timely manner with retailers like Vodafone, Costa Coffee and O2 able to trade again”. The layout of the hotel remains on the whole unaffected and therefore, DLG will be repairing substantial fire and water damage. Changes have however been made to the main staircase and also an extra staircase has been added to give improved access and escape. Martin Cranage continues: “The Northgate façade of the Kings Head hotel contributes significantly to the character of Northgate and Darlington town centre. As part of the conservation area, it is important that the façade is restored to its previous condition as soon as possible. Working on listed buildings is a specialist area of expertise at DLG and we have been successful in the past with projects such as The Light shopping centre in Leeds and therefore are confident that the Kings Head hotel will be repaired in a manner that conserves the heritage of Darlington.” It is hoped that all restoration work will be completed and the hotel fully operational again in summer 2011.