Logos

Big news guys.... we have an official logo.

We have been working with a team of designers on a couple of ideas and the one above reflects what we are trying to achieve with an 'earthy' look and and feel. We can now move onto the other areas of brand so more news will follow soon.


Any thoughts/opinions?


In terms of the building works this is also moving ahead. We have now finished plastering the VIP area so this is now ready for 2nd fix. The window has been fitted to the bottom 'snug' and this has also been plasterboarded ready for plastering. Work now moves onto the other snugs.


The bar has to be ready (at least legs and top) for this weekend so that the pipes can be fitted to it from the cellar. The pumps will also be installed this weekend, so we should see some significant developments on that front.


Tiles have been bought for the bathrooms and speakers as well. The seating has also been ordered and this is hopefully going to look great. Carpet fitters have been booked for the end of this month too.


I will take some more pictures once the bar is looking a bit more completed.

we have plasterboard

hello! long time no speak :)


Apologies for such a delay in updating the blog, seems like there are not enough hours in the day at the minute. So whats happened I hear you scream....


Well we have finally finished the stripping out. After filling 14 skips we now have a bare base to work from. Some areas had three levels of plasterboard on them so by stripping them this gave us more room. Phil has been working hard at stripping the old cabling out and putting in a new up to date system.


We have also been shopping, speakers, TV's, mixers, tiles, plasterboard etc have all been purchased. This week has also been a fairly big landmark as we now have plasterboard on some walls so it looks different already.


So whats next, bling! We are speaking to a furniture maker about making some bling sofas for the VIP area - and combined with the colour scheme and game stations this area is going to look great. We have signed a deal with a company to provide the pumps and beer, and the pumps (T-bars) are something else! Also we have found someone to make the bench seating. Hopefully next week we will also be starting to put a base layer of paint on. We have also been speaking to some till people about putting in touch screen tills with links to the net and will be great for the food in the future.


Also we are starting to build up a fantastic relationship with the landlords who have big things planned for the whole of St Andrews Court.


Everything is starting to look a little more rosy - only 5 weeks left though :) Have a look at the pictures and let me know what you think.


Paul

View from Bar area

VIP area

VIP Area

VIP Area towards Bar Lounge

Bar Lounge (from VIP)

Office

Dancefloor (from DJ area)

Toilets/Foyer

Snug 1

Snug 3 from Snug 2

Night time entrance

Foyer - day time entrance

Day time entrance

finally we have built something

Today was a good day, its the first time something has been built :)

This morning two brickies finished extending the walls for the toilets. Previously the toilets were a maze of walls. There were a number of directions to get to the males toilets and the females were just as bad. We have now simplified it and made the mens quite a square shape and the ladies have a luxury L shape. Soon to include a preening mirror (thanks Heather for that idea :))

As well as this the process of clearing old plasterboard continues and hopefully will be completed this week. Phil assures me that the first fix will start this week but also downloaded a countdown app on his phone telling me that there is only 60 days till december :S

Hopefully more pictures from my next visit (hopefully tomorrow night). We do have one question though - do you think we should have a DJ every night? Most places in Bolton dont have a DJ every Thursday/Friday/Saturday night but we are not sure of the best mix. Anyone got any thoughts??

Spent some time with a lighting and sound specalist as well so head well and truely maxed out now. So many choices :S

Till tomorrow.

demolition continues

so my first blog in over a week. Been a little hectic with work and then the club at nights but things are progressing well. The toilet area is now nearly clear ready for the brickies to turn up tomorrow. This will then be ready for first fix (hopefully by monday).

The rest of the site looks like a bomb has hit it again! There is wood everywhere and we are still trying to find a good home for it. We are hoping to have the site clear for the middle of next week.

So what now... Well we have brickies coming in on Saturday and then we need to arrange the following...

• DJ Equipment (Pioneers anyone :))
• Lighting consultant
• Sound consultant
• cellar lines to the bar
• plastering
• furniture makers
• carpet fitters
• (any just resolve world peace!)

Should be a big week this week with some significant changes so will post pictures later...

Paul

tidy your room!!!

So another day (sorry night) another day of grafting. Managed to clear a lot of the area now but ended up taking it back to the base. Walls had been plaster boarded, plastered, plasterboard, plastered etc... so some walls were nearly 4 inches thick. The mostly likely cause of this was because the previous owners did not want to go to the hassle of doing what we are doing. But by taking it back we what we are dealing with and actually able to reveal some original brick walls.

Had a sandblaster come down to give us a quote which is not bad. This will mean the areas we are leaving as brick 'should' look original and clean. Will keep you posted on that with some pictures.

Finally we ordered another skip so spent some serious time cleaning up and hopefully another skip soon. What do you think.... looking pretty clear now :)

VIP Area

Area next to Bar

Bar Area

Bar Area leading to Kitchen

damn plasterboard

Another night and another few frustrating hours removing some of the plaster and plasterboard that has bonded (more like fused) to the brick work. We have managed to clear another two pillars so nearly half the area is now cleared.

We are now ready for another skip already! Still got all the timber which we need to get rid of quickly. We also planned electric, heating outlets and lighting circuits last night.

So hopefully by the end of this weekend we should have the bar area clear ready for some design work. Just about to download some planning and walk through software (anyone got any recommendations??) so that we can start to visualise the new layout.

Another update to follow soon with some more pictures of a rather bare area :)

brick or plasterboard??

really short update this time as I am still in Finland. Phil has been working away whilst I have been attending meetings in Finland. I am due back tonight so will be able to give him a hand over the weekend.


Since the last update Phil has managed to fill the 2nd skip (after fighting off the other builders trying to hi-jack it) and continued to remove the plasterboard. He has removed some of the plasterboard to reveal some nice original features...


In the picture below you can see how the brickwork adds a feature to the arches... should we leave it as brick (blast it to tidy it up) or plasterboard it and give it a smooth finish - thoughts????

should we re plasterboard it or leave the brick exposed?

blood sweat but no tears

so now we have our first skip! we have been stripping for a while now (insert your own joke here!) and it was getting hard to move around the bar/club. We have stripped most of the plasterboard in some areas around the bar, lifted a lot of the very dated tiles and even taken the air con plasterboard housing down (which in turn resulted in half the ceiling falling down). Most of this was littered around the bar area along with the old bar and cladding in the front reception.


Enough was enough so now we are trying to shift the sh*t. We want to recycle as much as possible and have already had a few people enquire about the cladding. Someone took some of the metal away for recycling but the remainder of the material needs to go. The skip turned up yesterday (a big one!) and it was filled by Phil during the day and I was able to help him late into the night.


The second skip arrives today (Wenesday) which is quite convienient as I am currently writing this in Manchester Airport on way to Finland for my monthly management meeting for my day job. Phil has promised me he will clear the place for my return at the weekend.


So all of this accounts for the sweat but what about the blood. Well Phil helped in this area as when taking a platerboard edging down from one of the areas near the bar, the panel came away in his hands and whacked him in the face. After only one swear word - he notice the plasterboard nail with blood on it and a pain just below his cheek. I must admit I am not a fan of blood but it looked quite dark to me - but like the trooper he is - or should be like all men, he passed it off and carried on. grrr what a guy :)

When we took the air con housing down - it brought the roof down :S

Wall completely stripped and the coving removed as well.

Another view of the roof after collapse :)

There is a floor under all that wood!

Skip No1 full!!!!

Will do a further update after my next visit. Off to get on the plane hoping that the wind his died down in Finland :S

first blog - here we go

So here we go... by now you will have realised that we (my brother and I) have decided to take on a new challenge. After a fortunate meeting with some landlords we have decided to enter into a lease on the old Bergaracs/Bar Base club under St Andrews Court, in the Bolton Town Centre. I have posted a link in case you are interested in locating this place :)


Location on Google Maps


For anyone that can remember Bergaracs and Bar Base you will recall the club is actually located in a cellar. There are steps down to it from the entrance to St Andrews Court opposite Harveys. What we found when we got down there was actually quite pleasing initially. The bar was still located on the back wall, the dark dance floor still existed as did the dated 80's style cladding roof. However we are trying to create something a little more upmarket so... to date we have now

• removed the 80s cladding from the roof and walls

80's Cladding Removed

• removed the back bar (including the superglued mirrors!)
• removed the bar (which was rotten)
• removed the plasterboard from the back bar and near kitchen area (revealing the original brick work)
• removed the tiling from the bar and just in front of bar to allow us to assess the state of the floor (again revealing the original brick work).

So what now... well once we have ordered the skip we can really take stock of the space and look at finalising the design. We intend to move a couple of rooms, removed the dance floor to a new location and extend/update the toilet area.

Phil working at removing stubborn plasterboard

Revealing original wall

Plasterboard behind original bar (after removing mirrors)

Original Bar - now in bits :S

Original bar before being demolished.