The Old Fire Station, Salford
Salford's former central fire station, a red-brick and terracotta building of 1903 just off The Crescent, is owned by the University of Salford. It reopened in July 2023 as a café, bakery and bar, with Lark Hill Brewery brewing on site and bread baked in house.
At a glance
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More of our work for cafés.
Café furniture for The Old Fire Station
We supplied a wide range of contract seating for the café, bakery and bar: bar stools for the high tables, side chairs and upholstered low stools.
What we supplied
- Bar stools
- Side chairs
- Upholstered low stools
About The Old Fire Station
Salford's Central Fire Station was built between 1900 and 1903 to designs by the Manchester architect Henry Kirkley. As well as the engine house, it had a 52-foot hose-drying tower, the chief officer's house, a workshop, smithy and stabling, and cottages for married firemen. Its front of red brick and buff terracotta has a shaped gable, a balcony and a clock face, and the building is graded A on Salford's local list. Albert Bentley Place is named after the brigade's chief officer when it opened.
The University of Salford reopened it as a café, bakery and brewery bar on 4 July 2023, as part of the Salford Crescent masterplan. The bakery is open to view, so customers can watch croissants and sourdough being made, and the bar pours Lark Hill beers brewed on site; the brewery is also used for the university's teaching and research. Salford Crescent station is about 500 metres away.
Red shutters, white tiles and brewery steel
The building does a lot of the work here. Its famous red doors carry inside onto red-painted columns, set against white glazed brick, exposed ductwork and track lighting, and a glazed wall puts the brewery's steel tanks on show behind the bar.
Furniture in a room like this needs to be robust and simple, and to let the architecture lead. High tables with bar stools line the windows, with diamond-quilted brown backs on black steel frames, and dark-topped tables and low upholstered stools fill the floor. The quilting adds a touch of warmth and craft to an otherwise hard, industrial palette.
The palette
- Fire-engine red
- Glazed white
- Quilted brown
- Brewery steel
- Black steel
- Terracotta
A guide to the main colours in the scheme, not exact fabric matches.
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- A dedicated account manager
- Every product on one order
- One delivery, on time, every time
- Two manufacturing units and a showroom
