The opening of The Philharmonic, one of Cardiff’s most iconic bars, has been pushed back to safeguard the future of the building and to fully restore it to its former glory.
Decades of remedial patching up and the complicated structure of the building means that more work needs to be done to ensure it is renovated to the highest standard. Curzon, the landlords of The Philharmonic, have been working tirelessly on the building to make sure that it is in great condition when it is handed over for the final bar and restaurant fit out to begin.
The lease for the grade II listed building has been bought by independent bar owners Craig Davies and Simon Little. The directors already run two successful independent city centre venues Brewhouse, the live music venue situated in the Brewery Quarter, and Retro, home of the nineties vibe on Mill Lane.
Director Simon Little said: “Building work on such an old and complicated building as The Philly was always going to be a tricky project to put an exact time frame on. The important thing for us and the landlord is that the building is completely sound before we start our creative fit out.
“We are very grateful to our landlord Curzon, as they are working hard to ensure that The Philharmonic is futureproofed. Nick Griffith and his team are going to great lengths to ensure that this iconic building is handed over to us in pristine condition and for that we are very grateful.”
Co-director Craig Davies added: “We are in this for the long haul and want to get it right the first time, so we are seeing the postponement of the opening as a positive step to safeguard the long term future of The Philly and to reinstate it as one of the best bars in the city.
“The designs for the venue look amazing and we can’t wait to unveil them. So much hard work has gone into bringing The Philly back to the cherished pub and restaurant it was in its glory days and we think it is definitely going to be worth waiting for.”
A final opening date has not been decided upon as yet due to the ongoing works.
Around £750,000 is being spent on restoring and remodelling the building and it will be transformed into one large integrated venue with a stylish bar and restaurant, rather than four separate venues as it had been in the past.
The Philharmonic will be open seven days a week from 9am until 4am and will employ around 75 full and part time staff. It will be managed by Nick Newman, who currently runs Brewhouse. Nick is also the chair of Cardiff’s Licensees’ Forum.
As part of the creative fit out, the management of The Philly are keen for people to share their memories of the venue, as Group Director of Communications Mark Seaton explained: “As the Philly has been such an integral part of Cardiff’s nightlife for generations we’re really keen to celebrate that fact by collecting decades of photos of people having fun at The Philly.
“We would love people to send in their old Philly photos to us, and with their permission, we could use them to decorate the new and improved Philharmonic.”