Britain’s best-looking pubs revealed

CAMRA announces the winners of its prestigious Pub Design Awards

CAMRA has just unveiled the winners of its prestigious Pub Design Awards, which recognise the most innovative new projects of architecture, design and conservation in British pubs across the country.

There are five winners and four highly commended pubs across different categories ranging from refurbishment to new build in this year’s awards. These include:

New Build (assessing newly built pubs in 2022):

• • Strawberry Thief, Swindon (winner) – An ambitious new-build pub for Arkell’s brewery in a new development on the edge of Swindon known as Tadpole Village.

Conversion to Pub Use Award:

• • Turk’s Head, Exeter (winner) – Originally an inn for over 700 years, this property was entirely reconfigured from a pizza restaurant into a functional pub whilst keeping its historical character.
  • bod Matlock, Matlock (highly commended) – A building that originally housed a Boots chemist, which retains its art deco heritage.
  • Fourth Fiend, Meltham (highly commended) – a conversion by the local Three Fiends Brewery of a 19th Century school building later used as a Conservative Club. Use of traditional features such as matchboarding and different wall finishes gives the impression that a single large space is divided into ‘bar’ and ‘lounge’ areas.

Refurbishment:

• • Cadogan Arms, London (winner, pictured above) – The restoration of the pub sought to recreate the lost early Georgian architectural details and ornate timber panelling of the original building.
  • The George, London (highly commended) – The intensive renovation of this pub pays homage to its history as a hub for the political, cultural and social movements of the late 18th century.

Historic England Conservation Award (sponsored by Historic England, this award is given for work which conserves the pub’s architectural features, whilst updating its facilities):

• • Black Lion, London (winner) – A Grade II* listed property dating back to 1898, with features of special historical interest in the main bar and dining room.
  • Spread Eagle, London (highly commended) – A pub and hotel that has been sensitively restored to a very high standard, harking back to its glorious hey-day, whilst being exceeding respectful to the fabric of the building.

Community Local (reserved for outstanding refurbished street-corner locals):

• • Gordon Arms, Bedford (winner) – A neighbourhood hangout which offers great beer, tasty food and friendly service.

CAMRA will be celebrating the achievement with a presentation event at the Cadogan Arms on Tuesday September 5th, which is open to the press. Please contact press@camra.org.uk for more details.

CAMRA’s Awards Director Laura Emson adds: “We hope beer-lovers across the country will seek out these examples of excellence and plan visits to them whether they are local or just visiting. It has been an incredibly difficult few years for the pub industry, so let’s all support our locals this year and raise a glass to these shining examples in pub excellence.”

The celebration takes place during CAMRA’s Summer of Pub campaign, which aims to promote pub-going post-pandemic while raising a glass to our locals.