UK seaside pub’s £6.5m facelift mocked for ‘looking like a radiator’ | United Kingdom | News

Local residents near a posh pub which burned down earlier this year have angrily said renovation plans were “inspired by a radiator”.

Osborne View, a chic bar on Hill Head beach in Fareham, Hampshire, was gutted by fire earlier this year.

Today a massive £6.5million plan to save the site has been revealed, which will see the traditional façade, which is more than 100 years old, replaced with a modern glass façade.

Enraged residents claimed the proposal made the pub look like a magistrates court, a company headquarters, a prison, a bunker and a radiator – but not a pub.

Osborne View is a Victorian-era pub and in the 1960s one of its regulars was Sir Alf Ramsey, the mastermind of England’s 1966 World Cup glory.

In February, the pub was gutted by a fire caused by an electrical fault in a tumble dryer.

Subsequently, residents feared that the famous old watering hole would be taken over by developers and turned into apartments.

But last month Hall & Woodhouse – the company which managed the site before the fire – lodged plans for a pub and restaurant.

One critical resident said of the revamp: “Although we were initially very happy that Osborne View was going to be rebuilt and imagined it would be a bit more modern than the original, we hadn’t considered this futuristic monstrosity. We’re in Hillhead, not the south of France or Spain – it’s an eyesore for this beautiful coastal location.

Another said the design had “little architectural value” and was “crude to the point of being ugly”. A third said wryly that the architect must have taken inspiration from “a radiator”.

A spokesperson for Hall & Woodhouse said: “The proposals involve a stand-alone replacement pub and restaurant to be operated by Hall and Woodhouse.

“The replacement building will have the same surface area as the previous building. However, it will incorporate a refreshed design to better reflect the operational requirements of a modern pub and restaurant.

“The redevelopment of the site by streamlining stairs, removing split levels and improving the efficiency of food and drink delivery through the creation of a central core.

“It has also enabled Hall and Woodhouse to create a new building capable of maximizing sea views in a contemporary, modern style which matches the spirit of other recent developments along the seafront.”

Fareham Borough Council is expected to make a decision in January.