Location
Barbican, Plymouth

Client / Professional Team
Sutton Harbour Group

Construction Value
£2M

Our Role
MEP design & infrastructure

The Old Fishmarket occupies one of the most historic and prominent locations within Plymouth’s historic Barbican.

Fortunately, the Barbican escaped the bombing that devastated much of Plymouth during WWII, preserving its cobbled streets and historic buildings within the working fishing harbour.

Constructed in 1896, the Old Fishmarket had previously been enclosed to allow it to be converted into a large single lettable unit. However, this conversion was unsuited to modern retail and with the previous tenant vacating, Sutton Harbour instructed Design Foundry alongside Void Studios to modernise the building.

Our brief was to divide it into three appropriately sized units to yield an enhanced retail experience and augment the electrical infrastructure to support air source heat pumps.

Working closely with Void Studios, we developed proposals that preserved the Old Fishmarket’s heritage and character. Detailed surveys enabled minimal fabric alterations, with existing service routes reused and fire segregation agreed between units. All non-compliant MEP services were replaced.

We negotiated a new electrical supply with the DNO, achieving minimal disruption in this busy part of Plymouth. All three units were let before works were completed.

Services were discreetly routed to retain full-height glazing, and the air source heat pump was cleverly hidden behind existing timber louvres and within the roof space. The result is a fully modernised building that blends innovation with its historic fabric