The Hutong is a popular cafe just outside the recently developed Royal William Yard in Plymouth. Our clients owned the building which houses the cafe as well as a first floor flat above. They were keen to upgrade the building, which dates from before the 1800s and having formerly been the historic pub, The Butchers Arms. The building had since had a 1930s extension, making this a tricky structure to retrofit.

Both the ground floor cafe space and the flat above were retrofitted to a high standard, with new triple glazed windows and insulation throughout. The flat above achieved the demanding Passive House EnerPHIT standard for retrofit projects, with an impressive air tightness reading of 0.46 ach @ 50 pascals.

Our work involved completely rebuilding the back of the cafe, which resulted in a new kitchen and toilet area for the cafe and a roof terrace for the flat above. The cafe space is now a warm, modern commercial property while the flat above is an ultra low-energy light filled space which our clients now use as a holiday let.