As many readers will recall, CAMRA has been running the Pub Design Awards in conjunction with Historic England for many years now. The awards are judged by a panel of experts in design and conservation and celebrate pubs that have been refurbished, converted, or have made a major difference to their community. The chair of the panel, Andrew Davison, explained, “Despite the increasing pressure on the hospitality industry, people are still prepared to invest time, money and energy into pubs and bars. In these troubled times, the pub still has a key role to play in our communities and those who are working to conserve, repair and renovate them should rightfully be applauded.”
The winners for 2026 have now been announced and Greater London pubs feature prominently.
Conversion to Pub Use: this is awarded for a building that was not previously a pub and focuses on how the building’s character and historic features have been adapted to create a pub atmosphere and ambience.
There were joint winners, one of which was the Blue Stoops in Kensington (127-129 Kensington Church Street). This is a conversion from the former Kensington Wine Rooms by operators Allsopp’s Taverns. One striking feature is the blue ceramic bar front featuring the Allsopp’s hand trademark. It sells their beers.
The other winner was St Peter’s Tavern in Liverpool.
Refurbishment: awarded for the refurbishment of an existing pub building which enhances the design of the original pub.
The winner was the Leyton Engineer (265 High Road) which was originally Leyton Town Hall, a Grade II listed building dating from 1895. It was converted to a pub some time ago, originally operated by Antic, but it is now in the dependable hands of Remarkable Pubs. A number of historic features, such as glazed screens and mosaic and terrazzo floors, have been refurbished and a new bar-back installed, along with some brass chandeliers.
Remarkable Pubs were also awarded a ‘Highly Commended’ for the European, again in Leyton (557-559 Lea Bridge Road). This former Wetherspoon’s outlet (The Drum) had been ‘modernised’, during which all of its pub features were removed. These have now been restored to create a welcoming traditional pub in Victorian style, albeit one with the modern refinement of an open kitchen.
McMullen’s brewery received a ‘Commended’ for the Duke of York in Fitzrovia (47 Rathbone Street), which they fully refurbished shortly after acquiring it. The main point of interest is the ceramic tiled bar counter in the ground floor bar; they also removed what had become a somewhat controversial pub sign.
Community Local: this award recognises the conservation or refurbishment of street-corner pubs that are at the centre of the local community. The winner is the Lord Southampton in Kentish Town (2 Southampton Road). Dating from the 1850s, the pub closed in 2022 and fell into a near derelict state before Aimee Brown and Phil Harrington took a lease on it, carried out extensive repairs and reopened it as a community local. It now has one star on CAMRA’s inventory of historic pub interiors. We featured the pub in our April/May 2025 edition when it opened. It should not be confused with the Southampton Arms, also in Kentish Town.
Not all of the London winners were able to celebrate the presentation in Birmingham and so Ellie Eames, our Regional Director (left), and Jane Jephcote, the chair of the London Pubs Group, accepted the awards on their behalf, with Andrew Davison of English Heritage looking on.
Historic England Conservation: this award recognises ‘constructive conservation’; preserving a pub’s historical architectural features while, at the same time, improving its facilities to secure its future viability. The winner is in Birmingham but I thought readers might like to know about it because it will (eventually) be handy for the HS2 station at Curzon Street. This is the Grade II-listed Woodman (1 Curzon Street, Digbeth) which has three stars on CAMRA’s inventory of historic pub interiors. The pub’s multi-room layout has been retained and the main features to look out for are the historic Minton tiled walls, especially those in the Smoke Room.
For details of the other winners and photographs of the winning pubs, please take a look at https://camra.org.uk/awards/pub-design?selected_year=2026.