Colmar
Inspired by the grand brasseries of Paris, Colmar is a new destination that has opened in St Helier. Serving the best local ingredients combined with classic French cuisine, Colmar is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner six days a week. Also coming soon to the Colmar brand is a French-style pavement café that will serve seafood, fruits de mer and French-inspired dishes.
Lotheringtons Commercial Interiors, Jersey’s leading commercial and domestic interior specialists, were employed on this project as the Main Contractor. Alongside them, Axis Mason, a multi-disciplinary practice with an office in Jersey, was recommended to the client to work on the architecture and design of Colmar.
After opening in June, David Voisin, the owner of St Helier’s newest restaurant hopes that the venue will help change the character of the town.
Brasserie Colmar has opened on the King Street site that was formerly occupied by the shoe retailer Beghins, after 18 months on site. The store was very prominent in the town, with the building being a historic one in St Helier. The building’s iconic reputation meant gaining planning permission to change its purpose and use from a store to a restaurant was a lengthy process because of Jersey’s planning policies.
The store front of the restaurant has been completely updated with maintenance work carried out to give the façade a fresh, new look. Because the venue has no backdoor that is for employee use only, as both doors work as pedestrian facing entrances, the design needed to consider the need for an exit for the kitchen and back-of-house staff. Therefore, Axis Mason has treated the external façade delicately in the design, so it works functionally for the staff at the restaurant, whilst also being aesthetically pleasing.
Across this venue and its upcoming sister venue, Café Colmar, which is due to open on an adjoining site in Broad Street, the brand will employ around 35 members of staff.
The name Colmar is taken from a town in the Alsace region of France.
Mark Coppins, a Director at Jersey’s Axis Mason office, said:
“Working on the Colmar project has been a major opportunity to breathe new life into a historic building. It is a high profile job that everyone has been excited about for months, which has been great to be involved in as we have been able to secure other jobs as a result.
David Voisin started his career in hospitality, working in the hotel trade before spending 25 years working in the trust industry. His partners in the new venture include David Parish, who operates Cheffins at Beaumont.
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