Old Suffolk Punch to Be Revived as New Pub and Hotel

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Owners also agree £60,000 boost for Frank Banfield Park

Visualisation of the new pub submitted with the planning application

January 13, 2023

The Old Suffolk Punch in Fulham Palace Road, one of Hammersmith’s oldest pubs, is to be demolished and redeveloped to create a new pub and 40-bedroom hotel.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council has given the green light to plans for the demolition of the existing building, while retaining the existing front and side facades, and the building of a three storey plus basement and mansard roof hotel and reprovision of a public house at 80 Fulham Palace Road, on the corner of Distillery Lane.

The redevelopment is expected to take between 18 months and two years to complete.

The Old Suffolk Punch

The building’s owner, a company called Fulham Palace Ltd which took it over two years ago has also signed a Section 106 agreement with the council to plant four new trees and contribute £60,000 towards improving Frank Banfield Park, which is directly behind the pub.

Section 106 agreements are obligations agreed between planning authorities and landowners to support local service such as parks and other community facilities. The company has also agreed to contribute £15,000 towards the local enforcement team.

Banfield Park set to benefit

The pub has been empty since closing in 2018, though it was briefly brought back into use last November by KFC as a pop-up venue during the World Cup.

The building itself dates back to the 1860’s, and pictures from early last century show it trading under the name The Rifle. Illustrations of the completed new development, produced for the owners by architects Studio Kyson, show both hotel and pub reverting to The Rifle, but it has not yet been confirmed that will be the final title.

The Rifle Pub was on the same site in the early part of the 20th Century

Older Hammersmith residents may also remember that from 1952, the pub was owned by the Mancini brothers, who turned it into a popular venue for boxing matches and renamed it The Golden Gloves.

It was taken over in 1996 by Greene King, who changed the name to The Old Suffolk Punch.

A Heritage Statement supporting the planning application states, “ The owner is seeking to revive the pub use to the ground floor and redevelop the Site, with historic frontages preserved in a style that is deferential and sensitive to the mid-19th century origins of the pub. The proposed C1 hotel use is compatible with the Site, which has an established commercial use in a highly sustainable location and would contribute to the economic vitality of the local community.”

The planning application, Section 106 agreement and other supporting documents can be found on the council website using the reference 2021/03522/FUL.

 

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