Buttress appointed to The Royal Clarence Hotel restoration

Buttress has been appointed to repair and rebuild The Royal Clarence Hotel in Exeter, after it was devastated by a fire in October 2016.

Since the fire, we have been on site working with structural engineers Thomasons to assess the extent of the damage and make safe the remaining elements of the Grade II listed building.

Detailed research into the history of the building, parts of which date from the 16^th century, has also been prepared by the team, and will be used to inform the restoration process.

The practice has now been appointed to take the restoration forward and lead the interior design of the new hotel.

The philosophy of repair is to preserve surviving features of historic and architectural importance and, where possible, incorporate them into the rebuild.

David Shatwell, Director at Buttress, said: “Over the past few months, our efforts have been focused on stabilising the building, taking great care to save as much as possible of what remains. Now most of the debris has been cleared, we are pleased to be in a position where we can move forward with the next stage of work.”

Stephanie Hocking, CEO Andrew Brownsword Hotels said, “We are delighted to be working with Buttress to secure the future of the hotel.  As such a significant historic building, we are pleased to be entering the rebuild phase and look forward to delivering a hotel the city can once again be proud of”.

Photo credit: Darren Marsh