The King’s Arms, Hawkshead
The Brief
Bringing a redundant village pub back into use, with a new layout, improved access, better kitchen space and eight en-suite bedrooms.
The King’s Arms is a Grade II listed pub in the centre of Hawkshead, within the Conservation Area, the Lake District National Park, and Lake District World Heritage Site. It had been out of use as a pub for more than a year when the current owners bought it with a view to a complete refurbishment.
John Coward Architects was appointed to refurbish the building and rethink the way the bar and dining spaces worked. The kitchen needed improvement, level access was essential, and the upper floors needed to provide better guest accommodation.
The bar was completely reworked and a new catering kitchen fitted into a relatively small space. At the rear, we removed the existing steps down to the toilets and replaced them with a ramp. The level changes made this difficult, and the ramp had to be carefully integrated into the plan without taking up space that could otherwise be used for dining covers, booths, and seating.
The existing staircase was completely turned around. Instead of entering the upper floor from the bar side, the new staircase rises from the rear of the pub. This created more space in the bar and dining room and also improved fire escape options by giving the upper floor a more direct route out.
Key features
- Complete refurbishment of the Grade II listed pub
- Reworked bar and dining areas
- New commercial catering kitchen
- Improved level access to the rear of the building
- New staircase improving circulation and fire escape
- Eight en-suite guest bedrooms
- Rear extension with new gable and zinc-clad linking roof
- Planning work within Hawkshead Conservation Area and the Lake District National Park
Working with the Hawkshead townscape
The upper floor had already been divided up with late-20th-century partitions. We reworked it to create eight new en-suite bedrooms, finished to a high standard and giving the pub a much better accommodation offer.
More bedroom space also meant extending at the rear. We built above an existing storeroom and introduced a new gable alongside the existing roof structure. A more modern zinc-clad roof connects the two, but it is tucked away and does not read as strongly as the new gable.
That was a deliberate decision. Hawkshead is close-knit, with buildings sitting close to one another, and we felt that something overtly modern or contemporary would clash with the townscape. Instead, we worked with the vernacular design and drew on the village’s historic architecture.
The new gable has also created a small courtyard at the back of the pub, where the rear previously felt unfinished. There has been a lot of intervention on this side of the building, but we worked alongside the existing structure and its historical development, rather than forcing a contemporary solution.
John Coward Architects worked closely with the Lake District National Park conservation officer throughout. The National Park Authority recognised that the owners wanted to bring the building back to life as a pub in the heart of the village and supported the project. During construction, we maintained that relationship through site visits with the conservation officer, explaining how the work was progressing.
We completed the work in early 2026. The King’s Arms is now back in use, with a new bar and dining offer, local food and ales, eight en-suite bedrooms and a busy venue once again in the centre of Hawkshead.
