“Lion Hotel” Café and Roof Garden Britannia Place Promenade Blackpool

LION HOTEL BLACKPOOL - OPENING TO-DAY –  All that Is the most modem in hotel practice has been Incorporated in the building and design of the Lion Hotel which will be opened on Saturday at Blackpool The hotel, owned by Messrs. Nuttall’s Brewery, Ltd., Blackburn, has been erected on a valuable site on the promenade at South Shore bounded by Britannia-place on the south, Bolton-street on the east, and Shaw-road on the north. It is imposing in its appearance chiefly because of its strictly severe lines and attractive external decoration. Here are no architectural frills or ornamental trappings, but clear-cut direct contours which at once impose themselves upon the attention. In conformity with up-to-date ideas, glass has been used extensively; in fact the front of the hotel is composed almost entirely of glazed glass, giving maximum of light and air to the main rooms which front on to the promenade. The building is made up of the basement, containing the beer cellar and heating department, the ground floor, with its saloon, smoke room, lounge and public bar. and outdoor department, and the first floor equipped with a smart cafe served by commodious kitchens. There is flat roof, and the proposal has been made that it should be converted into a rock garden where patrons may sit on warm summer days. For the ground floor, an island bar serves all public rooms, so arranged that the licensee shall have easy personal supervision. The saloon and smoke room run along the front of the hotel and behind is a lounge which incorporates an interesting feature In hotel design. This Is a semi-circular glazed glass window composed of panes encased in sliding steel, and the whole can be opened to give a pleasant open-air effect to that room. The public bar and outdoor department have entrances from Britannia Place; the lounge has a separate entrance from Shaw-road. The flooring is finished off in the three rooms in rubber and terrazzo, completed by Terradura, of Manchester, and there a wooden block floor to the public bar. The cafe has a separate entrance at the north-west corner and is a fine room fronting the promenade with a full-length window which commands wide view of the sea. There will be accommodation for large parties of people, whose demands will be catered for in the fully-equipped kitchens at the rear. The living rooms of the licensee will occupy the rest of this floor. The hotel’s external appearance has been artistically finished off by a central tower and protruding fin, giving a well-balanced look to the frontage which is faced with rippled rustic brick and relieved with cream-coloured terracotta dressings. The Interior conforms to the general modernistic design, with skilful lighting effects and attractive furnishings. The furniture will provide maximum of comfort. The floors are of special fire-resisting materials. Motorists will be glad to learn that there is an extensive car park to the rear and also a smaller park at the front so that they need have no fears of a brush with the law over obstruction or inconvenient parking. The plans have been prepared Mr. Halstead Best, FRIBA FSI, of Cllfton Street, Blackpool, and the general contractors are Atherton Brothers. Ltd., Peter Street Saw Mills. Blackpool, and Messrs Luxfer Limited, Finsbury, have supplied the Waller Radiator Shields, Colman-Van Kannel, of Manchester, the revolving doors; Wright and Offland, Manchester, the embossed glass and leaded windows. The Wall and Floor Tiling Co., Ltd., Blackpool undertook special wall and floor tiling, and Dllworth and Car, Limited, Preston., installed the central heating apparatus. [Lancashire Evening Post 31 July 1937 page 7]

Reference    Builder 28 June 1935 Page 1216
Reference    Builder, 20 March 1936 Page 609
Reference    Builder 3 July 1936 Page
Reference    Lancashire Evening Post 31 July 1937 page 7 – opening with illustrations
Reference    Hartwell and Pevsner. Lancashire North page 149