Magic Rock Brewery & Taproom
Award-winning commercial
bar & brewery

Stuff to do

Magic Rock Brewery started its life as a side project in an outbuilding on the site of co-founder, Richard Burhouse’s family’s business. Its success meant that after around 5 years they outgrew the premises: they needed a bigger brewery! We were brought in to help them with project viability and fit-out design for the new brewery and onsite tasting room/bar.

Buildings and beer? They’re two of our favourite things, how could we resist?!

How we got stuff done

First of all, we helped find an operational site and conducted project viability for alternative use. It had to be somewhere with sufficient space for a brewery and taproom and somewhere in the right location for attracting customers and, of course, fit the desired budget. Feasibility studies were undertaken and a site in Birkby, Huddersfield, was chosen. We helped with the acquisition of the site and building, and secured planning permission for the change of use/fit-out.

The actual project had several different aspects, making it a really interesting one for us due to a combination of the functional manufacturing requirements of the brewery and the aesthetic demands of the taproom. We collaborated with the client to create an industrial vibe and reinforced a strong link to the onsite brewery. This included windows from the bar into the brewery, allowing customers to witness their future pints being brewed!

Why not take a look at the Magic Rock Bar that we worked on for the same client in Holmfirth here or contact Joe or anyone else on the team to discuss what we can do for you on 01484 424008.

  • I’ve used Farrar Bamforth for numerous projects over the last 10 years both commercially and domestically. They have handled all aspects of our projects from inception, including on site advice, concepts, drawings, ideation, pre-app advice, planning application, tender process, instructing trades, building regulations, works sign off etc… I’ve found them diligent, professional and courteous to deal with, with a great level of understanding of our needs and financial parameters and wouldn’t hesitate recommending their services for your next project.

    Richard Burhouse, Magic Rock Brewery

Architectural team

  • Managing Director

    Tony Bowling

    Tony Bowling

    Managing Director

    Accreditations: BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology, ICIOB – Incorporated Chartered Institute of Building, CIAT affiliate

    Skills: Autodesk CAD, project management, specification writing, contract administration, principal designer, knowledge of building regulations, energy performance of buildings, designing for neurodiversity.

    About Tony

    Tony is the Big Dog of Farrar Bamforth Architecture. Starting his career here in 1999, he acquired the business and became Managing Director in 2018. Tony loves process driven buildings; creating buildings that can make a positive impact on business performance and people’s lives. Tony takes an intuitive approach to architecture and can often be found in buildings waving his hands around to indicate where rooms should go. He’s also a ‘fixer’; solving problems and dealing with the difficult issues others would rather delegate. Think ‘Mr Wolf’ in Pulp Fiction but with building regulations rather than dead bodies.

    In his many years with the company, his favourite project so far has been Berendsen Laundry in Durham. A £5million build and £5million fit-out, Tony was involved from start to finish and enjoyed the perfect combination of interesting job, great client, and good team of contractors and consultants.

    And finally…

    Tony’s favourite toast topping is two rashers of bacon, brown sauce, and another slice of toast. That’s a sandwich Tony (there’s always one 🙄). When not standing in buildings waving his arms around, he can often be found at heavy metal or Adam Ant concerts, supporting Wakefield Trinity, playing touch rugby, or watching bad car chase movies. Though not, apparently, the Fast and the Furious (too bad).

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  • Associate

    Joe Hobson

    Associate

    Accreditations: BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology, MCIAT, CSCS – Professionally Qualified Person

    Skills: Autodesk CAD, Autodesk Revit / BIM, Contract Administration, Project Management, Principal Designer, Lumion / Twinmotion, SketchUp, Drone Operator and CAA licence holder

    About Joe

    As Associate, Joe is Tony’s right-hand man, playing an integral role in running the business and leading the team. Joe focuses predominantly on commercial and industrial clients and is a skilled project manager. Starting his career with Farrar Bamforth in 2010, he briefly went over to the dark side (Leeds) in 2015 but returned to the FBA fold in 2017 to take up a senior management role (and also because we’re awesome!). He introduced BIM and Revit to Farrar Bamforth and is the driving force behind our continued compliance and best practice in this area. His favourite project to date was the Magic Rock Brewery and Bar, in equal parts due to the creativity of the project and his love of beer.

    And finally…

    A lathering of high-end butter, Lurpak, is all Joe needs on his toast. Joe is a Civil Aviation Authority license holder and drone operator and, when he’s not working, enjoys following Huddersfield Town Football Club, music, travel, and time with the family.

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Architectural services provided

  • Feasibility Study

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    Feasibility Study

    A feasibility study allows you to comprehensively evaluate the viability of an architectural project before committing significant investments to it. Viability is assessed from architectural, financial, and environmental perspectives. As well as the functional aspects of the build, it also includes some preliminary designs, allowing you to start visualising the outcome. The process could include a pre-application submission to the planning department for their opinion prior to a formal application. Conducting a detailed feasibility study protects you against the, often costly, ‘surprises’ that can come from not anticipating and taking steps to avoid the pitfalls that come from not being suitably prepared.

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  • Tender

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    Tender

    There are multiple trades, suppliers, contractors, and consultants involved in any build. Sourcing the right ones is a central component of the process and doing that needs to be fair, transparent, and objective-driven. We can conduct tendering to ensure that each job gets the right providers in place to deliver on the scheme we’ve created.

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  • Master Planning

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    Master Planning

    Master planning is about determining how a site can be developed, taking a wide range of factors into consideration. It incorporates much more than the development itself; making the connection between the buildings and their surrounding environments, including the community, social settings, sustainability, population, transport, and economy. This is a specialist service that we are able to offer for both residential and commercial projects.

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  • Building Regulations

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    Building Regulations

    Building regulations are simultaneously the rules that keep us safe and the requirements that give architects and builders headaches as they strive for compliance with ever-evolving specifications. Not a problem for us though, as several members of the team live for the minutiae and details of regulations, and standards so we’re all over them. That not only means that your development complies with (and often, exceeds) building regs but that we also know the strategies for working with regulations in ways that don’t compromise creativity, function, or budgets.

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  • Project Management

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    Project Management

    Project management is all about taking care of the whole shebang. It’s more than contract administration, it’s holding your hand through the whole process: managing all parties, making sure that things happen when they should and to the standards demanded. We also ‘sort stuff out’, because not everything goes to plan all the time and fixing s**t is all part of the service! Project management of a build removes the stress from you and gives you peace of mind that stuff is just getting done.

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Love this stuff?

Why not take a look at the Magic Rock Bar that we worked on for the same client in Holmfirth. Contact Joe on joe@farrarbamforth.co.uk or anyone else on the team to discuss what we can do for you on 01484 424008.

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