Simon Knight Architects were approached to redevelop and restore The Rose & Crown pub in St Albans. The project is to retrofit and maximise the development to ensure long term financial viability for this important community and historic asset. The existing pub is a well-loved Grade II listed building within the St Michael’s conservation area.
After a long journey, planning and listed building consent were granted in 2024. The project consists of three existing buildings being creatively retrofitted; the existing pub, the barn and the cottage.
Rose & Crown:
The pub will be fully restored and protected with minor alterations to the rear of the building and new doors to the rear of the existing dining room, allowing better connection to the pub garden. Opportunities to expose more of the historic fabric will showcase the history and original architecture of the building.
The Barn:
A new contemporary barn building will be erected and linked to an existing outbuilding within the curtilage of the pub. The new building snugly slots in behind the listed boundary wall and incorporates clerestory glazing along the top of the wall, allowing light in around the whole building. This will create new flexible workspaces for the local community.
The Cottage:
A little known existing cottage at one end of the pub building will be restored and a modern but sympathetic extension will be added to the rear of the property, with a new bathroom, kitchen and garden space. This will remain as a separate dwelling to the pub, as it always has been.
Construction is due to start in Spring 2026.
