Pub operator JD Wetherspoon is to open its new pub at St Pancras International, on Monday 1 October, with the creation of 145 new jobs.
The company has spent £2m developing the outlet, at the iconic London railway station, with an entrance from within the station and a terrace on Pancras Road.
The Wetherspoon pub, which will be called The Barrel Vault, will be managed by Dave Smith.
The pub’s name refers to the station’s original design, its links with the breweries of the Midlands and the original role of the station’s undercroft for the storage of beer barrels in the late 19th century.
Designed by William Barlow and originally opened in 1868, St Pancras became renowned as an engineering marvel – it was the largest space in the world enclosed by a single roof and provided the grandest entrance into London.
When the station was built, Barlow decided that trains would enter the railway station on a raised deck, more than five metres higher than the adjoining roads. The deck was supported by 688 cast iron columns and the elevated platforms created a huge space below.
This was used to store thousands of barrels of Burton Beer – highly popular in the capital at the time. In the 1870s, more than 200,000 barrels arrived into St Pancras each year from the Bass Brewery alone.
The new pub will be open from 6am until midnight Monday to Thursday, 6am until 1am on Friday and Saturday and 7am until midnight on Sunday. Food will be served throughout the day, from opening until 11pm, every day.
The Barrel Vault will specialise in real ales, as well as craft and world beers, serving a wide range of different draught ales, as well as bottled beers, including those from local and regional brewers.
It will be open for family dining, with children, accompanied by an adult, welcome in the pub up until 9pm, throughout the week.
The pub will be wheelchair accessible, with a specially-adapted toilet for people with disabilities on the ground floor.
The new-look pub will be set on one floor, with one bar, with a feature barrel display over the bar and customer area.
Historical photos and details of local history, as well as artwork and images of local scenes and characters of the area, are displayed in the pub, together with information boards relating to events.
There will also be a large painted mural across one wall of the new pub, depicting the station in the 19th/20th century, before its modern extension.
Manager Dave Smith said, “Myself and my team are looking forward to welcoming customers into the pub. We are confident that it will be a great asset to St Pancras International and will be welcomed by travellers and visitors alike.”