£1.2m riverside restoration of listed offices begins in Hull

A Hull development company has embarked on the second phase of a riverside restoration worth more than £1.2 million.

Allenby Commercial earned recognition from Hull Civic Society for its work at Paragon Arcade and Danish Buildings, with both sites featuring in the Heritage Open Days this year.

Now the company has turned its attention to the Grade II-listed Bayles House, which sits behind Danish Buildings and overlooks the River Hull. 

The conversion will create seven offices in addition to the 12 already provided in Danish Buildings and the target market will again be the creative sector.

Georgia Allenby, design manager at Allenby Commercial, said: “The response to Danish Buildings has been fantastic with the result that there are now only two offices left and there is more interest coming in all the time.

“With Bayles House, there will again be a strong focus on creative businesses, including art and culture. We’ve got technology businesses, marketing and design companies and architects. They tell us the space helps to fuel their creativity, and some of them are applying that to help us.”

Parts of the property date back to the 17th century, though Bayles House was built as a house in the 18th century and underwent alterations later that century and in the mid-19th century.

The renovation has been supported with £250,000 from the Government’s Local Growth Fund, secured by the Humber LEP as part of the Government’s commitment to the Northern Powerhouse.

Jonathan Smith, of Jonathan Smith Architects moved his team of five into Danish Buildings in March this year and has been commissioned to work on Bayles House.

He said: “We have been established for 10 years and were based in Beverley but we specifically wanted something in the Old Town. We moved here and are beginning to realise how diverse we are, working on houses and on more commercial work including the renovation of Bayles House.

“The soft touch approach which Allenbys are taking to a listed building is something I really like. They have a theme running through the property and they have worked very sensitively with the historic fabric and brought it back to life with some lovely touches, retaining the good bits and adding new features such as lighting. For phase two we will carry on that theme, working with the building.”

Video production company JayJay Media and Fred Marketing are also tenants.

Find out more about Danish Buildings here.