The 140-cover Damson Restaurant officially opened in February, and is already proving to be popular with food-lovers from across the UK. The kitchen, meanwhile, is providing students from FutureSkills – Salford City College’s £6m advanced skills centre – with the opportunity to work for one of the North-west’s top restaurant brands in a cutting-edge commercial kitchen environment.
The ground-breaking project – and vision of Graham Pennington, deputy chief executive at Salford City College – has been in planning and build for over two years. Dawnvale completed its remit in a 12-week period, as agreed.
Working closely with chef Simon Stanley, Steve Pilling and architect Don Hobson, Dawnvale’s managing director, Neil Guest, delivered high-quality kitchen facilities featuring the latest sustainable and environmentally-friendly technology.
In addition to the commercial kitchen, Dawnvale also designed and fitted the new bar, marble floors, bespoke wine displays, and feature drop-down ceiling with LED lighting, as well as supplying a range of high-quality furniture for the restaurant.
Dawnvale’s prominent reputation in the hospitality sector spans over 30 years. Other notable recent projects include TGI Fridays, Hawksmoor Restaurants and the Chaophraya Group. Renowned for its design flair, collaborative working practices and value for money, Dawnvale designs, manufactures and fits bars, restaurants, hotel bedrooms, cinema rooms for some of the UK’s leading hospitality groups and independently-owned restaurants and hotels.
Steve Pilling comments: “Salford City College should be congratulated for their vision, passion and hard work in ensuring the industry has not just a national centre of excellence for our young people, but actually one we can safely say aspires to be world class.
“My expertise in running, owning and developing high-quality restaurants has, I trust, brought a new and personal dimension to the project. Working with Salford City College and Dawnvale to ensure the facilities and experience will surpass the expectations of students and the paying public has been exhilarating and inspirational.
“This will be the perfect environment for students to truly learn and master their craft, as well as gain knowledge on the increasingly important elements of running a sustainable and environmentally-friendly kitchen. It’s great news for young people with career aspirations, the North-west hospitality sector and the industry as a whole.”
Neil Guest adds: “This is undoubtedly one of the most exciting projects Dawnvale has ever been involved in. Every single aspect of the design and build has been created using next-generation thinking. We have pushed all the boundaries to harness the very best products available to meet our sustainable and low-energy approach.”
