01780 433 334
ArcHaus, Wansford: the practice’s own 1930s building lit at dusk

Iconic

ArcHaus

The former A1 Little Chef at Wansford now bears a new name: ArcHaus

ArcHaus is where we work: the former A1 Little Chef at Wansford, a 1930s roadhouse that stood empty for years before we bought it in 2013 and opened its doors in 2015. Inside it is modern, naturally lit and open plan, with environmentally friendly power and heating; outside it stays sympathetic to its 1930s architectural essence.

ArcHaus today: a white, curved 1930s building with its name above the entrance
The story of the building
  1. 1932Wansford Knight

    It originally opened in 1932 as the Wansford Knight, a roadhouse, that provided rooms and a restaurant for travellers.

  2. 1936The New Mermaid Inn

    In 1936 the building changed hands and became The New Mermaid Inn to replace a building that was demolished to allow the widening of the road at the junction where the Old North Road meets Old Leicester Road.

  3. 1970Little Chef

    In the 1970s The New Mermaid Inn and a lot of other road side cafes and restaurants were bought out and rebranded as the Little Chef to expand the chain across the UK. The company chose not to replace the building, but to extend and refurbish the existing to make the building fit in with the standardised corporate design.

  4. 2007Unoccupied

    The building remained as the Little Chef until 2007 when the company changed hands and a revision of the locations excluded the Wansford site.

  5. 2013Renovation

    In 2013 Harris McCormack Architects Ltd bought and started renovation works on the iconic plot and after much effort, time and patience in 2015 it opened its doors. The practice was originally based in a cosy ground floor office nestled in the heart of Stamford.

  6. 2016Rebranded as ArcHaus and Ducati

    The original Bauhaus design of the building makes it an architectural rarity although subject to modernisation and an extension to the frontage, it forgoes listed building status. Images of the original building compared with recent ones demonstrate how relatively small changes to proportions and detailing can diminish the original architectural purity of the building.

Then and now

A man on a vintage motorcycle on the A1 at Wansford, with the building behind him, in an old black-and-white photograph
The building as a Little Chef, with its red lettering
The empty, run-down building, with an old yellow car and concrete barriers in front of it
The curved glass-block window covered in graffiti, with timber pallets stacked beside it, before the restoration

“Everybody said we were completely mad to buy it because there was water pouring through the roof and it was a real mess inside, but we could see past all that. That’s what we do. We could see that it was a fantastic space and we fell in love with it.”

William McCormack, HMA Ltd

ArcHaus at night, with floodlit lamp posts and the building lit from within
ArcHaus at dusk, its curved window glowing
ArcHaus with its dark-clad, contemporary meeting pod
ArcHaus seen from the side, with the Ducati showroom

More photographs

ArcHaus at dusk from the corner, its glass-block window glowing against a purple sky
The curved glass-block corner of ArcHaus in daylight, with a Ducati sign on the wall
ArcHaus in the distance from the roadside, with a car blurred as it passes
The dark-clad meeting pod, seen from below against a blue sky
The Ducati canopy and steps at the front of the building
The empty building before its restoration, its render stained and its windows dark
The derelict building from the side, its render peeling back to brick
The building covered in graffiti before its restoration, seen from the road
The workshop under construction: blockwork walls rising on a cleared plot
The new workshop from above, with a digger and a van beside it
Get in touch

Tell us about your project.

We work from ArcHaus. Come and see it.

Call — 01780 433 334 Email us
Office
ArcHaus, Peterborough Road,
Wansford, Peterborough PE8 6JN
Phone
01780 433 334
Email
architects@harrismccormack.co.uk