Andy Thornton Ltd

The Crazy Bear

The lavish new Crazy Bear Hotel in Beaconsfield has used architectural antiques from Andy Thornton extensively in the main hotel bar and restaurant. The original fittings blend in perfectly with the unique style of this quirky, boutique hotel.

The hotel is housed in the oldest documented building in Beaconsfield, a timber-framed former coaching house dating from 1427. The vision for the Crazy Bear was to create a flamboyant design in keeping with the historic architecture of the building, while using original architectural antiques as part of the overall eclectic mix.

Hotel owner, Jason Hunt visited Andy Thornton’s Victoria Mills Showroom to hand select antiques for this project. The company offers the largest stock of architectural salvage in Britain and provided the perfect inspiration for this impressive project.

For the hotel bar, Jason chose components from which to create the impressive bar itself; panelling for the counter, carved detail for the canopy, and an ornate carved gothic screen to form the stunning back bar. Highly decorative carved oak organ woodwork forms an elaborate screen in the lounge area.

A small cocktail bar was created in the restaurant using original church balcony panelling and carved woodwork for the fireplace was also sourced from Andy Thornton.

Although the Crazy Bear in Beaconsfield is not fully finished, at the time of opening, there were two restaurants, three private dining rooms, two bars, two conference rooms and 10 bedroom suites. Phase two will see a further 10 suites and six meeting rooms in 2009. 

Jason’s and the Crazy Bear’s vision proves that you can create something unique and unusual if you inject imagination into a design.