Pedn Olva
St Ives, Cornwall
The Pedn Olva pub, hotel and restaurant is perched upon a granite promontory overlooking St Ives Bay, with breathtaking views out towards the town and harbour to the Northwest and the golden sands of Porthminster beach to the Southeast. The former Pedn Olva copper mine at Pedn Olva point, operated in St Ives before 1911, with the engine house and mine shaft (now sealed) located directly below the pub and hotel.
Over the years the hotel has expanded and sprawled across the promontory, in an almost organic fashion, with various extensions to all floors. Key to the proposal was the desire to enhance the relationship between the building and its unique location , both inside and out. In tune with the built and natural grain of the St Ives coastal fringe, the complex is nestled back into the rockface via the introduction of a new material palette to the external elevations, reducing the overall scale and softening the visual impact of the building.
Internally the building has been reorientated to enhance circulation and maximise on the qualities of the building’s location. A series of new apertures have been carefully positioned and cut into the existing fabric to forge an intense connection to the sea, with the internal spaces animated by the everchanging colours of the natural Cornish sunlight. Passing through the customer area spaces, a seemingly choreographed series of panoramic views act as a constant reminder to the visitor of exactly where they are.
Half-height turquoise wall tiling has been introduced throughout the interior, mirroring the horizon line of the sea, with locally sourced Cornish granite boulders positioned to form natural sculptural elements, grounding the hotel lobby firmly within the site, as if to have been constructed around its location.
This has resulted in an interior that feels unmistakably connected to the sea and the granite cliffs.
A new 10-metre long bar, inspired by the mining history of the site, sits at the heart of the pub, with various zones of seating surrounding it, to provide relaxed lounge, dining, drinking and snug spaces to suit all preferences. A sculptural feature staircase inspired by the vertebrae of mackerel; commonly caught by the fisherman of St Ives harbour, links the ground floor pub and restaurant to the first-floor roof terrace with extensive views over St Ives harbour. New bi-folding doors allow the entire Southeast elevation, to open out onto a raised terrace overlooking Porthminster Beach.
Bespoke corridor carpets designed especially for the Pedn Olva are inspired by the turquoise waters, golden sands, granite cliffs and yellow lichen synonymous with St Ives, lead hotel guests to 27no. fully-refurbished bedrooms – all of which have panoramic views out to sea. Here inspiration is taken from the numerous famous artists that have long been drawn to St Ives for its unique light quality and natural landscape. Feature rugs inspired by the works of Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and Peter Lanyon provide an artistic canvas across the floor, on which an eclectic mix of furniture, artwork and bric-a-brac complete bedrooms that celebrate the intimacies and quirks of St Ives
Photography: © Pippa Hudson Photography