St Werburgs based architectural antiques business Robert Mill is in the final stages of a large commission by a new Chinese hotel to create an 8 metre long, 3 metre high bar and backbar. The project has taken around six months from design and planning stage to shipping.
 
The wooden structure has been carefully constructed using 85 percent reclaimed materials with many components being decorative carved pieces mainly from churches. The carved figure pilasters are from a Victorian entranceway. The columns from a church. The counter and till shelf are made from oak pew seats. The frieze, cornice and dado panelling are all salvaged. New materials used include timber for the carcass, mirrors and oak faced plywood for the arches and their uprights.
 
Colin Scull and Richard Ives have worked through their agent to meet the designers and architects ever-changing requirements. Richard says "We thought initially that the bar would be taken to its new home on the 32nd floor of the hotel through a large external construction lift, but it turns out this will be dismantled by the time the bar reaches China. So we have redesigned it into 1.2 metre segments to fit into the service lift." Robert Mills Ltd has worked with the same agent for twenty years on many projects, and is heavily involved in the design process.
 
The company carries out around five similar large projects, and lots of smaller ones, each year for made-to-measure counters, bars and desks for pubs, bars, boutiques hotels and shops. The structures are often shipped to Europe, often to Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and France.
 
"It is lovely to find a way to use all the fantastic decorative pieces, the many lengths of panelling, frieze, cornice, and lovely old wood from pews that is saved from churches." Richard explains "It is very difficult to find a home for them otherwise."
 
Robert Mills, Narroways Road, St Werburgs, Bristol BS2 9XB Tel: 0117 955 6542