Banking on du Boulay

As we are all aware, the world of High St Banking is changing and for some years now we have seen the transformation of many former banks into bars or restaurants. Two of du Boulay’s recent projects for Jamie’s Italian are located inside the stunning Grade II listed former banking halls in the City of London’s Threadneedle St and Manchester’s King St.

38 Threadneedle St was built for the British Linen Bank in 1902-3 designed by Scottish architect John Macvicar Anderson. It is Grade II listed and is in the grand Palladian style with fluted marble pilasters and stone arches. A mezzanine dining area was created out of the old back office space with new large arched windows formed overlooking the main banking hall to join both dining spaces together. The kitchen is located in the basement bank stores and a triple height feature staircase links all the trading floors.

100 King St is a Grade II* listed building, an Art Deco edifice surrounded moat-like by roads on all four sides. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and built between 1933 and 1935, it features carvings by local sculptor John Ashton Floyd. It housed the Midland and subsequently HSBC bank until 2008 when it lay vacant. The building is arranged on three levels – a ground floor banking hall, a mezzanine floor and a basement vault room. The brief was to retain all of the original features , repairing and refurbishing while taking into consideration the demands of modern building regulations. The impressive 1930s architecture has been maintained and restored to its former glory – marble columns, Art Deco lighting, marble staircase and wonderful original wooden panelling. The black and white marble flooring design has been carefully reproduced.

On both projects the original listed bank counters have been skilfully refurbished and new joinery made to match to form the bar and anti pasti counters. New marble and pewter counter tops and decorative metalwork and stained glass provide the finishing touches to the impressive joinery.

Contracts Director for du Boulay, Michael Reed said: “Working on Threadneedle St and Manchester Jamie’s Italians was very important to us and something we took great pride in. Both projects were technically interesting and the best part was that we got to hand over restaurants with fantastic interiors that we knew diners would love.”

du Boulay have extensive previous experience of working in listed historic buildings.