Fish & Bread: A Belgian Cafe

Client: The Belgian Cafe

Location: Canterbury, Kent

Area: 250 sqm

Value: £300,000

Procurement: Traditional

Located within Canterbury’s historical town centre in the shadow of the West End of the Cathedral, the building, locally known as Deakin & Sons (after a Gentleman’s tailors that inhabited the site for over 100 years), has evidence of built fabric from as early as the Roman times, and is sited on a prominent crossroads corner. The building is Grade II listed.

The historically sensitive site required a balance of conservation and reinvigoration including opening up selected areas of the Ground Floor shop frontage with large Victorian shop sashes that open the interiors onto the street, and careful positioning of perimeter benching that has multiple uses, from produce display to the social theatre of dining.

Historical status has also brought interior renovation into focus, with which we have retained as many internal finishes, fixtures and fittings as is practical. The wet fish shop is a new marble clad insertion into the existing fabric, whilst the vertical circulation is remodelled in order to enable fire protected access to a banqueting hall, external roof terrace, well-appointed kitchens at first floor level, and office and storage on level 2.