Design Focus: The Maltman

Say the words ‘Renfield Street’ to most Glaswegians and the old Odeon cinema would more than likely spring to mind, closely followed by The Maltman pub, which has occupied the site opposite for many years. But in the words of owner Belhaven Pubs’ Area Manager Eddie Stimpson, “it wasn’t the prettiest of places.” So after a two-week refurbishment and a £200k spend, The Maltman is now a lot more pleasing to the eye.
I had the pleasure of a guided tour by GM Stewart Adam, and managed to grab a few words with Eddie, on the first day of its new lease of life. It was a dummy run and the place quickly began to fill with invited guests, there to sample the beefed-up lunch menu. Eddie also told me, “Nothing changed structurally, and most of what we have changed has been cosmetic. We’ve also extended the food offering to try and drive more custom into The Maltman during the week, as to date, the majority of the trade has been pretty much confined to Friday and Saturday nights.”
The bar is certainly spacious enough to accommodate a sizeable amount of customers sitting, standing and dancing, with a long bar stretching across the right hand-side wall of the place. In front of it is a mixture of chairs and tables displaying a variety of brand new coloured upholstery, with fixed banquette seating, also reupholstered, in various places around the skirting of the bar. And it’s all overlooked by a mezzanine at the back. The wooden floor remains, apart from in the seating area underneath the mezzanine, in which grey terrazzo tiles have been laid. The walls and ceiling have been painted in cream and kind of mushroom tones, and the natural daylight from the relatively large windows streams right the way into the place.
The Maltman’s amazing original features like the oak bar and back bar, and the fire place on the opposing wall, have all been cleaned up, and now look more like the ticket. All components that make up the bar are particularly ornate and quite stunning, so there would have been no question of losing these elements, I’d imagine.
Kiloh Konstruction was the main contractor, and the designer on the project was Glasgow-based Suzanne Caldwell, a long-time collaborator of Belhaven Pubs, and she absolutely loved working on The Maltman. She says, “The place hadn’t had any attention for years, so this was a great project to get my teeth in to, and because the interior has so many beautiful original features, any new design components couldn’t be too out of step. The textured wallpaper I chose reflects this continuity, as does the upholstered furniture, light fittings and pictures.”
“Some of the original pictures were simply re-framed, but we also brought in some newer ones of landmarks, like the Donald Dewar statue on Sauchiehall Street, the man on the horse with the cone on his head, as well as the Glasgow city Coat of Arms. The large mirrors, one with an ornate silver frame, and one painted in white, also bring an airier touch to the space.” I have to say, I really like the new pictures and what Suzanne has done with the wallpaper. One pattern that she chose, for example, is a blue with a feint fleur de lis running through it, and this is locate on the wall across from the bar, next to the sturdy oak fireplace. The second paper choice is a cool tartan, also in blue, has greatly enhanced the mezzanine, which before the refurbishment was a bit of a dead space.
The Maltman’s GM Stewart Adam explains, “Now that we have a new carpet, lights and wallpaper in the mezzanine area, we’re hoping that this will give customers more of a reason to utilise this space. It was often overlooked in the past. The fixed seating has also been re-upholstered in what is my personal favourite part of the design, so it’s a lot more comfortable for starters.”
The mezzanine has a fairly low ceiling and Suzanne has allowed for this with some nifty slim cube-shaped shades which I think will go down well. A little bird also told me that the previous carpet had got a bit sticky over the years, so the addition of a new non-stick one alone should work wonders for this area.
Other highlights for me is the upholstered furniture downstairs which has been kitted out in a variety of different textures, colours and styles. I’d say that plum is the dominant colour, but there’s also coral pink, sandy tones, tartan, leafy and even a pinstripe white and grey thrown in there too.
The lighting’s equally as interesting, with candelabra-style elaborate pendants complete with mini silver shades all along the ceiling hanging at the tip of the bar, and over the bar itself are some spotlights, with wall-lights attached to some of the pillars that match the boxy shades that have been hung in the mezzanine. Scotia Sound was drafted in to revamp the sound system, and bring in a new HD TV, alongside the additional screens and a brand new projector.
Outside is now also gleaming away after a lick of paint and some new awnings that should attract passing trade more readily.
Finally, the toilets warrant a visit as they haven’t escaped the sweep of the brush, with the designer laying waste to the old cubicles. In their place some gleaming new ones, plus dressers and mirrors in a greyish brown colour. The original toilet and sink fixtures have been spruced up and retained, and they look as good as new. The gents hasn’t quite been gutted to the same degree, but is nevertheless much improved.
To sum it all up, the stream of people coming in as I was leaving all seemed very impressed by what they saw, busily scanning round the bar for all the changes, exchanging lots of impressive gasps.
This is a cleaner, fresher and family-friendlier Maltman and, unlike the old Odeon across the road, is light years away from ever being condemned.