Local designers give beer garden new lease of life

A beer garden in York has been transformed on a budget thanks to the creative thinking of three local designers. 

David Turner, who runs product design agency Turner & Son (formerly Scruffy Dog Design), joined forces with bespoke furniture maker, Daniel Blakey, and York St John University product design graduate, Tom Hutchinson, to create innovative furniture made entirely from recycled pallets and lighting made from disused bicycle wheels for Gibson’s on Micklegate.

David, himself a York St John graduate now based at the university’s Phoenix Centre, says that the installation builds on the hard work the owners have already done to help pave the way for the bar to move into its next phase of growth: “Jon and Lee Wilkinson have put a lot of work into Gibson’s since they took it over, and it’s great to see the bar getting busier and busier,” he says.

“The team is keen to attract more visitors to the Micklegate area, and the beer garden is clearly visible from the city walls.  Our challenge was to fit out a large outdoor space on a budget that would encourage people to stop, drop in and explore this part of the city.” 

David says his starting point was researching recycled materials that could be secured at little or no cost and repurposed to create outdoor booths, tables, seating, planters and a bar. He settled on pallets, and then worked with Daniel Blakey of Bare Design, an experienced cabinet maker, to come up with the furniture concepts for the exterior seating and bar area.

“Jon and Lee were heavily involved throughout the project, too, clearing and concreting the outside area and dismantling more than 100 pallets to provide the raw materials from which Daniel built the furniture,” he says.

The new benches and tables were made by reassembling the pallets so that the edges make up the bench and table tops, a technique that allows light to pass through the solid structures, giving the furniture a lightweight look in a narrow area.

The seating area was constructed using pallets stacked at varying heights to add interest to the shape of the area, clad with plywood to create a solid surface and meet health and safety regulations, and covered with pallet sections to match the look and feel of the rest of the furniture.

“I then worked with Tom on the lighting designs, which will use bike wheels and deconstructed pallets as frames to create stunning exterior lights that will complement the overall look of the exterior space,” David says.

The end result, says bar owner Jon Wilkinson, is a beer garden that is already drawing in the crowds: “Not only does the furniture look fantastic, but David and Daniel have created a flexible solution, by designing and building it so that it works in a variety of different arrangements.

“This gives us the option of creating a single seating area for private dining or events – an area we are looking to develop - as well as a more traditional beer garden setup during normal opening hours. We’re really pleased with the results.”

The team at Gibson’s secured Heritage Lottery Funding to support the refurbishment.  Jon says the £6000 grant, awarded through City of York Council, will contribute towards the costs of furniture manufacture and construction, signage and community involvement.