Birmingham pub in ice rink plan for beer garden

The owner of a Birmingham pub has applied for planning permission to install a temporary outdoor ice rink in the venue’s beer garden.

Pioneer (City) Pub Company plans to install the facility to improve the vibrancy of The Distillery in Sheepcote Street during the winter months.

The Distillery, formerly The Fiddle and Bone, has a first floor frontage onto Sheepcote Street, but a ground floor frontage opens out onto the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal towpath. At ground floor level behind the building is a large cobbled courtyard which is used as the venue’s beer garden.

The open space spans the gap between the canal frontage to the south and the rear of the Grade II* Roundhouse to the north.

The proposed ice rink would be approximately 135sqm and occupy the area of courtyard immediately west of The Distillery and immediately south of The Roundhouse.

The rink is made from lightweight polyethylene supported by a metal frame. It would be supported by a scaffolding structure, and sit on top of temporary wooden spreaders which in turn, are laid on top of the cobbles.

Temporary free-standing chiller units will be located within the pub’s existing store area, while a temporary wooden platform would be constructed on the cobbles to accommodate free-standing lockers and benchers for guests to change.

A design statement supporting the application says: “All aspects of the proposal are designed to be lightweight, temporary, and easily removable at the end of the winter season.

“The beer garden becomes an underutilised space over the winter months and as a result loses much of its vibrancy and animation which forms part of the character of this part of the site.

“The proposed development is temporary and will only be in situ over the winter months. It will enhance The Distillery’s contribution to the economic vitality of this part of central Birmingham, introducing a new type of the vibrancy and character to the area within a space which is well suited to such a use.”