Guildford Leagues Club’s Italian restaurant, Tavana Trattoria, was trading out of a dated, Asian themed dining room that no longer matched its menu or brand. The club needed a complete transformation, delivered quickly, within budget and without closing the restaurant. It turned to Paynter Dixon, a long-standing partner, to design and deliver it. In just six weeks, our team transformed the 160-seat restaurant across its indoor and covered outdoor dining areas. New ceilings and lighting, a levelled floor with new carpet and tiling, custom joinery, window treatments and a fresh paint palette created a warm, contemporary trattoria. A tiled bar front and a striking centrepiece wall, dressed with olive trees, now divide the dining zones and anchor the room.

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The club needed its restaurant to keep trading, so our team built the works around daily service rather than the other way around. We staged the refurbishment, completing the indoor dining room first while guests dined in the covered outdoor area, then moving outside. A partitioned ordering and collection point kept the kitchen fully operational throughout, protected from dust. Both work areas were hoarded with locked, key-only access, and all demolition was finished between 6am and 10am, before the doors opened. When the existing floor proved badly out of level, the team levelled it within the programme. When the specified carpet could not arrive in time, we sourced an alternative available the next day. Our interior designer approved it, and installation stayed on track. Even a roof leak found above the ceiling was traced, repaired and resealed without delay.

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Leading both design and construction, we could shape the scope to the club’s budget from day one. We value-engineered every element to deliver the greatest visual impact for the investment, and also provided a furniture plan that guided the club’s own procurement. The restaurant traded throughout, with just one quiet Monday set aside for site set-up, agreed in advance with the club. Defects at handover were minimal and the project was delivered on budget with zero lost time injuries.