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George and Dragon

By George(and Dragon)! Altro perfect for historic Dartmouth pub

Altro Stronghold 30Altro Whiterock WhiteAltro Whiterock Chameleon, Altro Whiterock Digiclad (Custom), Altro Walkway 20,  Altro Wood


The George and Dragon Pub in Dartmouth was a run down, tired old pub that has been transformed into a family friendly destination venue, including indoor and outdoor bars, a coffee shop, restaurant and the only Beer Garden in Dartmouth for outdoor dining. The premises were completely redeveloped by the landlord and by Heavitree Brewery PLC, optimising the full footprint of the property, whilst retaining and restoring the historic façade on the edge of the local conservation area. The re-development included a new cellar, cold room, main bar, coffee shop and café seating area, plus a new upstairs ‘Boat Room’ restaurant. The extension of the ground floor areas also allowed the creation of two holiday apartments and a manager’s flat above the public areas.

Adrian, Leigh and Sophie Ovens, the owners said: “These days successful pubs need to have a ‘wow factor’. Good food and coffee offering, as well as the bars, is also a must. Altro systems provided the ideal solution to support this. They provided the essential hygienic and easily cleaned floors and walls in all of the food preparation and service areas. They can easily handle the temperature fluctuations in a busy kitchen environment and our experience is that they are second to none in providing good value for money with long term durability - and they look great too! This is why we also used Altro for the floors and walls in all of the toilet areas as well, making them a unique feature of the new George & Dragon, creating a welcoming, comfortable and colourful environment that our customers love.”

Altro worked closely with the owners and their designer, Geoff Sellick, Architectural & Interior Design, recommending a number of different safety flooring and hygienic wall cladding solutions to support their unique design. The interior design was a unique blend of old and new with the unusual combination of a Dragon theme generally, including ‘dragon skin’ fabrics and specially commissioned scrap stainless steel dragon sculptures. In the new Boat Room there is also specially commissioned artwork of historic ships that are associated with the River Dart, created by local artist Paul Barclay.

In the kitchen, Altro Stronghold 30 flooring and Altro Whiterock hygienic wall cladding were selected to provide safety and hygiene in this busy environment. These Altro systems were also continued into the seasonal outside bar and food service areas, in order to create a seamless solution with easily cleaned surfaces.

On the walls in the toilets, pictures of Dartmouth were used innovatively using Altro Whiterock Digiclad (Custom) technology, making them almost life size. They became an integral part of the finish elsewhere, using Altro Whiterock Chameleon in designer colour shades which highlighted aspects from the Digiclad images.

The holiday apartments and manager’s flat, above the George & Dragon, had Altro Wood Safety flooring installed, again selected for its proven durability, slip-resistance, ease of cleaning and good aesthetics.

The owners also added: “The close support we, our architect and our professional building contractor, ‘Building & Design Services Ltd’, have received throughout the design and installation phases of this complex project from the Altro team and their specialist contractor Neil Bryant of Bryant Interiors Plymouth Ltd., was exceptional. We would all willingly endorse them for anyone with similar areas and requirements in the hospitality business.”

Bryant Interiors, who completed both the installation of the Altro Whiterock and Altro flooring, have over 30 years of experience in the construction industry. Neil Bryant commented: “With such a high standard of finish required, it was critical that our team of fitters were fully qualified and experienced in fitting the wide range of products from Altro. The support services from the Altro Customer Care Centre, the technical department and on site project assistance were paramount to the overall success of this prestigious installation.’’

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