There's more room than ever as The Liquid Room nightclub rises from ashes

Published on Monday 8 February 2010 10:16

FIRE-stricken nightclub The Liquid Room is set to rise from the ashes – bigger than ever.

The club – housed in a listed 19th-century former church – was badly damaged in a major blaze in 2008 and its owner has now been granted planning permission to replace two destroyed outhouses and create a larger dressing room and more storage space.

The new plans also feature a larger basement which could be used as another nightclub.

Owner John McWilliams has spent millions on the refurbishment, including top-quality sound equipment and lighting designed by one of the companies responsible for the set of The X Factor.

Firefighters battled 20ft flames at the Victoria Street building – shared with Finnegan's Wake bar and Khushi's Indian restaurant – on 19 December, 2008, when hundreds of festive revellers had to be evacuated from the street.

Investigations revealed the fire had broken out in the kitchen of Khushi's, causing extensive damage to the premises and its neighbouring businesses.

Hundreds of thousands of gallons of water had to be pumped from the basement of the Liquid Room and, without a roof, the club was regularly flooded again.

Work to replace the communal roof has been further delayed by an amended application to add four extraction grilles on the replacement roof.

The roof must match the original design of the B-listed building as closely as possible, but the grilles could prevent a similar fire from breaking out in the future.

While the decision on the roof is pending, Mr McWilliams is now able to press ahead with repairs to his own section of the building.

He said: "It's full steam ahead now. It's going to be massively different. The new dressing rooms will be top-notch and we'll also have a larger basement. That could be another nightclub.

"Live music has always been at the forefront of The Liquid Room and we've spent millions on getting the best equipment. The technical specifications will be the best in Europe.

"We're planning to open in May, and we've been told the roof will take eight weeks. We have to open then, as we're already fully booked."

The former B-listed Church and Parish School of St John was designed by George Smith and built between 1838 and 1840.

It lies at the heart of the Unesco World Heritage Site in the Old Town, so Mr McWilliams has been ordered not to disturb medieval and earlier archeological remains beneath the church.

While the new outhouses will be slightly higher than previously, planners concluded this was acceptable.

The planning report states: "The height of the outbuildings will increase. This is partly to accommodate the fire escape that the rebuilt building now requires.

"There will be no adverse impact to the residential amenity as the adjacent building houses offices and the rear is used as a car park."