The 120-seat restaurant is housed in the Grade 2 listed, St. John’s Court Hall. River Cottage wanted to build a restaurant that would build on the reputation of the original Axminster canteen and its award-winning successor in Plymouth.
St John’s Court Hall, is a 19th-century church building, whose innate grandeur had been marred by alterations over the past 30 years, including the addition of a first-floor mezzanine that virtually obscured many of its most beautiful architectural features.
Simple Simon Design team first established a new layout for the building that maximised covers, allowed for the introduction of a large commercial kitchen and requisite back-of-house services, and reinstated the double-height airiness of the original hall. Working in close collaboration with River Cottage, the team incorporated various changes that would enhance both the fabric of the building and the dining experience.
Care was taken to source local fixtures and fittings. The building employed various eco-friendly elements such as paint, replaced oak laths from Brecon, tiles from Wiltshire and the new steel, glass and solid oak staircase which was fabricated less than 10 miles from the restaurant. The bar furniture was also reupholstered second-hand, with few new furniture pieces used from English makers Ercol. Reconstituted leather was used for the banquettes while reclaimed timber boards were used for the bar and waiter stations.
The refurbished hall was illuminated by ultra-efficient Philips LED lamps. The design also enabled infiltration of natural sunlight through original leaded stained-glass windows. The painted timber roof trusses, which have been sandblasted to expose the original pitch pine framework, evoke an ethereal appearance, when bathed in natural light.
