A New Chapter for Exeter: NooKo Unveils the Future of the Royal Clarence Site

On the ninth anniversary of the devastating fire, NooKo was proud to host an open public forum—”The Royal Clarence Site, 2016 & 2025″—at the Mint Methodist Church in Exeter on Monday, 27 October 2025, to finally establish an open dialogue with the local community.

Following an insightful historical reflection on ‘The Fire’ by Dr Todd Gray, MBE, NooKo founder Max Sayers and Project Manager Kevin Arbury delivered the keynote presentation, ‘The Future’. For us, this project is not just a commercial venture; it is a profound commitment to the city we call home, and we are determined to see the Royal Clarence site reborn.

Our Ethos: Local, Sustainable, and Heritage-Led

NooKo is an Exeter-based, family-run company. Our entire team grew up here, and our mission is to build sustainable, high-quality, and character-filled buildings.

• Sustainability: We invest heavily in sustainable practices, aiming for high energy efficiency ratings (EPC Grade B) by avoiding gas and exceeding insulation standards. For us, building new is never truly ‘green’, so we are dedicated to regenerating existing structures, significantly reducing the carbon footprint of new construction.
• Local Focus: We work almost exclusively with local tradespeople and friends who share our passion for quality, maintaining a close-knit, family-run feel to all our projects.
• Heritage: We believe you “cannot build a new build which has the feeling of a heritage building”. This project is driven by feeling, not just spreadsheets, which is why preserving the historic fabric of the Royal Clarence is paramount.

The Vision: High-Quality City Centre Living

The new vision for the Royal Clarence will transform the derelict site into 25 residential apartments situated above commercial space, which we believe is the ideal model to inject new life and prosperity into Exeter’s city centre.

• Residential Over Hotel: With new high-end hotels opening in the area, we saw a clear opportunity to specialise in residential schemes. Having people living in the heart of the city centre creates a vibrant nighttime economy and provides a crucial boost to local service-based industries (like cafés and restaurants) that cannot be replicated by online shopping.
• Preservation and Restoration: Our plan is to retain the entirety of the building’s exterior façade. We are also committed to reinstating the demolished top section, including the decorative crest, using the original mouldings which we have managed to locate.
• Connecting Old and New: Internally, we are redesigning the layout to be structurally sound and highlight the building’s history. A bricked-up archway will be made the focal point as a light well, purposefully exposing the burnt timbers to create an emotional connection between the building’s past and its future.

The Way Forward

We are looking at a huge multi-million investment in this property. We took on this project knowing full well it would be a tough one, but our heart and soul is committed to delivering it.

We have been working closely with the Council and Historic England, and are aiming to start construction in January, with a projected two-year timeline for completion.

We would like to thank the Exeter community for their support. We are committed to transparency and will continue to provide regular updates to ensure everyone feels involved in the restoration of this truly historic site.