C G Fry & Son hands-over The Seaside Boarding House refurbishment
Dorset-based independent builder C G Fry & Son Ltd., handed-over the completed internal refurbishment of the ‘The Seaside Boarding House’ in Burton Bradstock, located on the cliffs overlooking Chesil Beach and the stunning Jurassic Coast.
The exciting new venture is the brain-child of business partners, Mary-Lou Sturridge and Tony Mackintosh, the duo who set up the legendary Groucho Club in 1985. Formerly a 19-bed care home, the building has been refurbished to a very high standard with eight luxurious and spacious bedrooms, all with En-suites and each enjoying sea views. C G Fry & Son worked with Chassay Studio Ltd., a London-based architecture practice.
Mary-Lou Sturridge, The Seaside Boarding House said: “One thing I can say about working with C G Fry & Son is that throughout the building works we didn’t have any major fall-outs. On the day the roofers arrived in October 2013, we were hit with bad storms, the start of the worst weather for 250 years. It was a massive learning curve for all of us and probably the hardest working year of my life. We had constant communication throughout the project, site meetings with the architects once a month, as well as Phil Male, Fry’s Contracts Manager and his team every two weeks. These meetings were held off-site which worked really well. C G Fry dealt with any problems as they arose and everybody worked well together – it was very much ‘all hands to the deck’ to get things done. C G Fry and Son came to understand what we were trying to achieve. I wanted everything to be perfect and the quality of the finish was key to the end result.”
C G Fry & Son built a new terrace on the front façade, installed a new commercial kitchen and created a 60 seater restaurant, which will serve British modern classics. Fry’s joinery works built the bar in the separate sophisticated bar area, which has the original Groucho Club stools taking pride of place, upholstered for a classic look. In the library, the joinery works made the shelves and also the stylish cabinets in the guest’s servery.
Mike Pinney, Contracting Director - C G Fry & Son said: “It was a challenging project, in so much as we were working through the horrendous storms at the end of 2013. The contracting team pulled together and worked very hard to deliver this fantastic project, and we are absolutely delighted with the end result. I want to take this opportunity to wish Mary-Lou and Tony every success with this unique and delightful Boarding House located in one of the most stunning areas of Dorset.”
The Seaside Boarding House is fully open for business from 27th February 2015 and welcomes non-residents.
