July 12, 2026 / By rachel
Lots of projects involve repairs, planning policy and careful heritage detailing. This one had all of that, plus champagne bubbles on the ceiling and a police line-up in the boys’ toilets.
For Week 19 of our #40Projects40Weeks series, we are revisiting Saxtys in Hereford, a Hereford hospitality refurbishment from 2007 that reworked a well-established restaurant, wine bar and nightclub inside a listed building.
This was a proper transformation, not simply a fresh coat of paint and a new sign above the door. Saxtys needed a new identity to bring it up to date; a better layout, improved services, a modern vibe with strong branding and spaces that worked from daytime dining through late-night drinks right up to that point in the evening when people start making optimistic dance floor decisions.
Hospitality design that had to work hard
Originally opened in 1977, Saxtys was already a well-known Hereford venue, but the building needed complete re-modernising to meet changing expectations. By 2007, hospitality design had moved on. Restaurants, bars and clubs were no longer expected to sit in neat separate boxes. Customers moved between them. A good night out might start with food, become drinks, turn into dancing and then, somehow, involve everyone deciding they definitely need chips. The design had to accommodate that fluidity of atmosphere, all within a listed building.
RRA worked with the client and specialist build teams to remodel the venue, improve the flow and create a more confident brand identity. The project included restaurant space, wine bar areas, club spaces, demolition, rebuilding, new finishes, lighting, graphics, furniture and carefully coordinated services.
Listed building, late nights and last-minute changes
Working in a listed building meant that while the brief for the design was to feel contemporary and exciting, the building fabric still had to be respected and repaired where needed.
The project was timed to coincide with the smoking ban that came into effect in England in 2007, changing the way bars, clubs and restaurants operated. For Saxtys, this meant the venue no longer needed the same large and expensive extraction system for smoke inside the building, but it did need a properly considered designated outdoor smoking area as part of the plan. The project was also completed to a tight programme and budget with the work carefully phased, so there was minimal restaurant downtime as closing for too long was not an option.
Bubbles on the ceiling
One of the most memorable features was the ceiling artwork.
The idea was inspired by the champagne bar and champagne bubbles, giving the interior a sense of movement, celebration and energy. It was playful without being random and helped create a distinctive look for the venue.
This is where hospitality design becomes more than layout and finishes; these elements are vitally important in building a brand and venue that people remember. The lighting, the artwork, the route to the bar, the welcome, the atmosphere and even the moment of walking into the toilets are all carefully considered to create a welcoming, fun and, ultimately, memorable, experience.
The toilets were part of the night out too
The toilet areas were not tucked away and treated as an afterthought. The floor-to-ceiling pink and blue graphic artwork was bold, immediate and deliberately visible as people approached, becoming one of the most memorable parts of the Saxtys refurbishment.
The entrance layout helped make that possible. Rather than using standard doors straight off the main venue, the toilet areas were designed with a baffle door arrangement, creating a short offset route into the space. This allowed the artwork to be seen from outside the washroom areas, adding colour and energy to the customer route, while still protecting privacy.
It also made practical sense in a long, narrow and busy venue. The offset entrance helped avoid awkward bottlenecks, allowed queues to form more naturally and made the area feel less like a dead-end corridor and more like part of the social flow of the evening. Anyone who has ever tried to squeeze past a toilet queue in a busy bar will appreciate that this is not a small thing.
Good hospitality design is about understanding how people move through a venue: arriving, waiting, gathering, splitting off, reappearing, finding friends, losing friends, queuing, chatting and eventually making their way back into the main space.
Designed to last, but not forever
The 2007 refurbishment was a major one and it carried the venue through to 2021, which in nightlife terms is a very decent innings. Bars and restaurants are not museum pieces; they have to move with fashion and customer expectations, and, frankly, they have a hard life and get worn out. For a bar interior to last some 14 years, that is testament to its quality, suitability and the fundamental design of the scheme.
The project helped give Saxtys a stronger identity, a better customer experience and a more flexible venue that could support food, drink, events and late-night use.
Still part of the RRA story
Saxtys is a great reminder that architecture and interior design are about understanding how people use a place and making it work harder, feel better and stay commercially useful for longer. This Hereford hospitality refurbishment brought together conservation, interior design, services coordination, brand identity and a good dose of personality.
Click for the full Saxtys project page.
This project is part of our #40Projects40Weeks series, celebrating 40 years of RRA Architects through some of the projects, people and stories that have shaped the practice. If you have missed any of the previous posts, you can catch up on our News page.
About RRA Architects
Currently celebrating its 40th year, RRA Architects is an award-winning architectural practice established in 1986, supporting clients across residential, commercial, retail, development, heritage, education, community and conservation projects.
We work nationally, but are mostly focused across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, the Cotswolds, Bristol and Avon, the West Midlands, South West and South Wales, helping clients create thoughtful, practical and well-designed buildings.