Local developer Jason Craig, from Brewery (Weymouth) Ltd, has teamed up with Matthew Allibone, Director of QS Services at Whitefox Chartered Surveyors, to restore the historic Brewers Quay in Weymouth.

The project, which will take two and a half years, aims to save the building from disrepair while incorporating Weymouth Museum, residential spaces, and retail units into the redevelopment.

Jason lives locally, just 11 miles from Weymouth and has lived in Dorset for over 20 years.  Despite retiring 5 years ago, Jason saw and fell in love with Brewers Quay, having admired it from afar and was tempted back to work!

Whitefox have extensive experience working on some iconic buildings across the UK, and various listed properties along the south coast, including Bournemouth’s Bobby’s department store, and previously The Grand Hotel in Brighton.

Tell us about the Weymouth Brewery project

JC: The project is due to take 2 ½ years, with completion in summer 2026. Works have already commenced on phase one, under the current planning permission, whilst pending a revised application for an extension on the east side of the building and alternations to the internal lay out.

The site has some history, and we are the 3^rd developers to come on board, with the strong view and aim to save this building from becoming another building lost to time.

We’re working very closely with the council staff, who are very helpful and supportive, with the ambition to retain this charismatic building.  We are also partnering with Weymouth Museum who were previously housed in the building.  They will be going back in when it’s all been redesigned, and they will have one single, accessible and workable space on the ground floor. It’s great to be collaborating with them.

MA: We were delighted to be appointed to work on this historic building, having worked with Jason on previous projects. Our remit is to monitor and control costs from the contractor, advise on the programme and handle any contractual matters, as and when they arise, to ensure a positive, smooth and timely outcome. We’re enjoying bringing our depth of experience of working on complex buildings, with lots of different stakeholders. It’s great to be able to assist in reinvigorating the area with an historic building and not just to be starting again.

What challenges have you come up against and what support have your received?

JC: There have been many challenges. Obviously, because of the logistics of the building as it’s grade 2 listed and had been left to rack and ruin and had not been touched for about 10 years.

Upon starting we removed about 8 tonnes of Pidgeon poop! They’d been roosting in there for years; the poop was an incredible 12 inches deep in some areas.

MA: We’ve had issues with asbestos which had to be dealt with in a safe and responsible way. There was a very old cast iron water storage tank discovered which is riddled with asbestos and is very challenging in terms of removal due to its size and weight.

JC: Finding a way to redesign the building to be practical has been a priority.  The original design that had planning permission was unbuildable with restrictive living options.  So, we set about completely redesigning, ensuring that there were lots of open spaces, balconies and decks.  We’ve added a residential gym and some outside communal space.

Dealing with some of the historic issues of the building in terms of finance and funding has been a real struggle. The project had gone bankrupt a couple of times previously.  Thankfully, we’re there with that now.

Dorset Council Senior Team have been extremely helpful, but as to be expected with any project of this size dealing with the general admin, legals and site constraints/considerations has been a frustrating struggle at times.

The traction on our Facebook page has been brilliant with 98% of comments on there being positive and supportive.  There’s lots of local interest and people are keen to see it succeed.  The Facebook page is a great resource to follow to keep track of the project’s progress.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/447646907093359

MA/JC: We’ve all been working closely with Conservation Officers, Heritage and Planning teams to bring the building back to life in a way that it’ll be useable to the local community and new residents.

Have you made any unusual discoveries?

JC: We uncovered a boat, the Laureate boat, which was famously shipwrecked in 1887 on the Breakwater of Portland and led to the loss of 10 residents of the town who drowned. There were just 2 survivors.

The Laureate belonged to a local boat builder, Edward Lewis Carter, who had taken a group of friends and acquaintances on a conger fishing trip. It was late October, and the weather prospects weren’t good, but the Laureate successfully reached Portland, where she moored half-a-mile from the Breakwater.

Some of the 12 on board grew anxious about the increasing storm, but it was judged safer to remain moored rather than attempt a run for shelter.  By morning there were only 2 survivors to give an account of what happened that night.

The mooring rope either snapped or became unfastened, with the result that the Laureate drifted on the Breakwater. It was a terrible local tragedy as of the 10 that died; 8 were married men who left 8 widows and 29 children desolate.

Incredibly, no one knew that the Laureate was in the brewery.  It was in a hidden room and the building had been built around this over the years.

The plan is to crane it out and reinstall it back in the museum area.  National Heritage England will be managing and overseeing the whole operation.  It’s one of only two boats of its kind left in the country. We’re proud that it will be a part of the newly installed Weymouth Museum.

We also discovered a steam engine inside the old Brewer’s Quay which we’ve gifted and donated to the museum.

Tell us about the new development

MA: It’s an ambitious and much-anticipated project involving a three-phase development. It’s been the talk of the town for many years and it’s very satisfying to see it finally coming to life, a real team effort. As with any project, costs and programme are always a key matter and constraint and we are working closely with Jason to ensure the team delivers and are keeping a close eye on contingencies and changes to ensure that the project is kept on budget.

JC: We first went to market in December 2023 and interest has been positive, we’ve already sold 80 percent of the properties on Coopers Mews and Brewery Reach.  We’d sold some before we even put a spade in the ground!  We have attracted a real mix of buyers… a large proportion are locals, many downsizing or people relocating back to the area, having been brought up here and wanting to move back. The local interest that we’ve attracted is brilliant. Interest in Brewers Quay has been phenomenal too.

Phase One: Coopers Mews
The Old Workshops are situated directly behind the main Brewers Quay building.  This is a selection of three, 2-bedroom, single-storey dwellings

Phase Two: Brewery Reach
The old Newtons Cove carpark situated to the rear of the development will become a fantastic selection of six beautiful townhouses, with gardens, parking & terraces, plus a wonderfully positioned block of twelve newly built apartments.

Phase Three: Brewers Quay
The second and especially challenging element of the project is the laborious redevelopment of one of Weymouth’s most famous and recognisable buildings, ‘Brewers Quay.’ Combining a blend of multiple retail units on the ground floor alongside the return of Weymouth Museum and the construction of 49 apartments over five floors.

https://brewersquay.site/brewers-quay-development/

https://whitefoxgroup.co.uk/