Coast wine bar and restaurant has unveiled plans for a new retractable canopy supported on a steel frame at the front of its premises in Birkdale Village in Southport.
The business, at 51 Weld Road, has submitted a planning application for the scheme to Sefton Council.
A submission on behalf of Coast by Rod Ainsworth Architect said: “The property is an existing restaurant and wine bar set well back from Weld Road behind an outside seating area.
“Birkdale village is characterised by a mix of cafes, restaurants, retail and business uses which mainly front onto Weld Road and Liverpool Road.
“The property, built as Livery Stables in the late 1800s, has since been altered and extended many times and has lost much of its original character. It has also had various commercial uses over the years.
“It is proposed to construct a retractable canopy over part of the external seating area. The canopy will be supported on a rectangular steel or aluminium framework which will be powder coated in dark grey. Over this area the proposed structure will have a retractable roof so that the forecourt can be used when the weather is inclement. The existing cobblestone frontage and the planters to the boundary will be retained as part of this proposal.
“To the right-hand side of the application site is a grade two listed Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway signal box built in 1905. The signal box is not in ‘tip-top’ condition, but nevertheless the view as it is approached from Weld Road is an important one and for that reason the proposed canopy will not project any further than the front of the adjacent shops (at nos. 41-47) so that the views of the signal box across the forecourt of the application site will not be interrupted.
“The retractable roof will be supported on a free-standing independent structure comprising rectangular columns and beams. It will cover an area from the face of the existing building to the corner of the face of the adjacent terrace of shops, numbers 41 to 47 Weld Road, it will cover approximately half of the existing external seating area.
“Although contemporary in appearance it is more in keeping with the existing building that it fronts than the terrace of shops to the left-hand side of the proposal. The slender columns and beams will be square/rectangular in cross section and in my opinion will not appear to be bulky, obtrusive or out of character with the subject building. Furthermore, as the structure will not project beyond the face of the adjacent terrace it will have little or no impact on the character of the shops.”
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