The Garden of the Black Friar Pub is a unique space with a quiet, debonair feel, providing a lush dining and social space for up to 75 people. Wright Landscapes designed and built this garden as part of a wider development of Local Blackfriars, with the Grade-II historic pub and garden itself located at the feet of a new, modern high-rise residential development.
Our design team needed to meet some very specific demands for this high-end restaurant, with only a small pocket of city-centre space available to work in.
Categories
Design & Build
Awards
Principal BALI award winner Soft Landscaping
Construction (non-domestic) 2022
APL Commercial Garden 2023 Finalist
Our Approach
We also faced a multitude of challenges – limited access to the site, which is bordered by both a public footpath and busy ring-road junction; working in an enclosed space; and a lack of depth, services, and connection points. Furthermore, our construction team were required to work with extra consideration and respect for both the residents overlooking the site and the high-end materials of the newly refurbished pub and development surrounding the build area.
Undeterred by these constraints, our team successfully designed and built a quiet, sophisticated, and unique setting for diners and merry makers of the Black Friar restaurant. Key factors of the planting design were to create a rustic and mature feel to the space which could mask the noise and business of the inner city setting. We achieved this through clever design and planting of mature trees and plants with a bespoke Mediterranean theme, creating a cosy and inviting garden teeming with layers and texture.
It was imperative that the designs could accommodate maximum seating capacity and future versatility of the venue. We used natural products to achieve this, creating an outdoor seating platform for patrons to enjoy day or night, all year round.
The overall result is an enjoyable, flexible space which was awarded a Principal BALI Soft Landscaping Construction (non-domestic) award in 2022, and in 2023 awarded a Best In Category in the APL Commercial Garden category. The garden has been featured by Manchester’s Finest, Manchester Evening News, Secret Manchester and more.
