Old Brewers’ Yard

Re-activation of one of London’s oldest brewery sites into a flagship brand experience hidden amongst Covent Garden’s historic streets.

Client The Mercers’ Company
Sector High Streets & Communities
Size 1,350m²
Location Covent Garden, London

We were commissioned by The Mercers’ Company to explore development opportunities to activate Old Brewers’ Yard for public use.

The site comprised a collection of historic brewery buildings within the Covent Garden Conservation Area dating from the 1740’s, of which eight were Grade II listed.

Our proposals created a generous courtyard by removing later additions to the existing urban block and revealing the character of the original brewery – one of the oldest in the UK.

Rationalising the buildings meant we could maximise area and create generous pedestrian connections between the surrounding retail streets of Long Acre, Neal Street and Shelton Street.

New restaurant and bar uses were positioned to activate frontages, visually connecting the yard with surrounding streets and allowing the previously overlooked space to become an attractive destination for visitors and residents.

Green ceramic tiles suspended from above and used as wall cladding afforded Brewers’ Yard character and created an enclosed urban oasis away from the main thoroughfares.

Simon Taylor, Property Director at The Mercers Company
‘We go to Fathom when we’re unsure what to do. The team is skilled at interrogating a brief to come back with fresh ideas that stack up in commercial terms – not a confusing myriad of options. There’s a real depth of experience and knowledge at Fathom. We appreciate their full intellectual investment in the project; it’s not just a process to them.’

Making space for possibility

As a result of this work, The Mercer’s Company secured Guinness as a tenant for their Open Gate Brewery, an immersive brand experience and microbrewery which opened in 2024.

Following our initial work, we were commissioned to undertake a further study of our proposed 550-person capacity basement bar to see if the entrance could be relocated to the Yard, whilst reconfiguring a retail unit facing Langley Street.

This involved complex fire engineering and a careful study of sight lines from Neal Street and Mercer’s Walk. The proposed design allowed for a variety of uses including a bar, nightclub, bouldering or competitive socialising destinations.

Additionally, we developed proposals to re-pave the Yard and provide power to mobile kiosks by mapping complex below-ground services and vehicle access requirements.

Credits

Architect Fathom Architects
Retail Agent Hanover Green

Project Information

Credits