Eleanor MaslinEast Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
BBCPizza Express has opened the doors to its latest restaurant in a refurbished 1930s city centre building.
The Grade II listed site, which once housed the Burton menswear chain, was bought by Wykeland Group in 2021 before it underwent a £2.4m restoration to return it to its original art deco look.
The restaurant chain said the new setting would bring more employment opportunities to people in the city.
Wykeland’s development director, Jonathan Stubbs said: “We’re sure Pizza Express will love their new home and customers will enjoy dining in one of the city’s most striking settings.”
Pizza Express, which has now closed its site in the nearby Princes Quay Shopping Centre, said the new restaurant would employ 24 team members.
The chain said it had used “bold colours and ambient lighting” in the design for the site which included art deco pendant lights, ceramic blue tiles and exposed brick walls.
Pizza ExpressEarlier this year, Hull City Council approved a change of use for the building, allowing a restaurant on the ground floor of Burton House.
Standing at the entrance to Whitefriargate and overlooking Queen Victoria Square, it is widely considered to be one of Hull’s most distinctive and characterful buildings.
It was designed for company founder Montague Burton by famed chief architect Henry Wilson.
However, the building has stood empty since 2020, when Burton owner Arcadia Group went into administration.
According to Wykeland Group, the key to the £2.4m restoration was the replacement of much of the granite cladding which adorns the building.
Mr Stubbs said the developer had also seen “strong interest” in the upper floors at Burton House.