Force Builders Ltd Transforms CLEVELAND ARMS Pub with Comprehensive Renovation

The Cleveland Arms, back on its feet

Old London pubs have a way of getting tired without anyone quite noticing. A bit of wear on the bar, lighting that’s been patched up over the years, a front that hasn’t had a proper clean since who knows when. By the time we got to the Cleveland Arms it was all of that. Still a lovely building. Just worn out.

The owners knew what they wanted, which helps a lot. They wanted it to feel like the same pub, only looked after. Nobody wanted the sort of refit where a Victorian local ends up looking like a chain bar with old photos on the wall.

What the work involved

It was a full-scale restoration rather than a quick freshen-up, and a pub is a commercial space with its own set of rules, so it’s planned differently from a house.

Outside, the façade was repaired and cleaned, keeping the original look. With pub fronts that’s usually slower than people expect. You don’t know what state the brick, the render or the old timber is in until you start, and anything original you’d rather mend than replace.

Inside was a complete rethink. New lighting, new finishes, and a lot of joinery. Pub joinery is a job in itself. It gets leaned on, kicked, spilt on and scrubbed every night, so it has to be built tougher than anything you’d put in a home, and still look like it’s been there for years.

We stripped back what was there first and had a good look at the old details before deciding what to keep. That bit’s easy to rush. It’s also where you find out which parts of a building are worth saving.

Old and new together

We’ve been in construction for more than twenty years, and with buildings like this the hard bit is always the same: making the new work sit next to the old without it looking stuck on. Lighting is a good example. Too bright and the place feels like a canteen. Too dim and the bar staff can’t see the till. You end up trying fittings in place and adjusting.

The Cleveland Arms is a good example of what you can keep if you take your time.

Working with the owners

The owners were involved all the way through. We’d suggest things, they’d tell us if it didn’t feel right for their pub, and a fair few details changed along the way because of that. That’s normal on a job like this, and it’s better than sticking rigidly to a drawing. They know their customers. We know buildings.

Why we liked this one

Some jobs you finish and forget. This wasn’t one of them. A local pub belongs to the street as much as to the owners, and people have been drinking there for decades. Seeing it busy again, with the same character but looked after properly, was a good feeling for the whole crew.

For us it’s what the job should be: do it properly, sweat the details, and leave the building better than you found it.

Force Builders Ltd is a London building company (Companies House 07049787) delivering house extensions, loft conversions and full refurbishments across Greater London. See our projects or get in touch.