London’s Westminster council approves Jonathan Mizzi’s undulating Serpentine Cafe at Hyde Park site
Jonathan Mizzi, Director of award-winning Mizzi Studio has announced that its plans for a landmark café opposite the Serpentine Gallery complete with head-turning brass canopy have been approved by Westminster Council.
Jonathan Mizzi, Director of award-winning Mizzi Studio has announced that its plans for a landmark café opposite the Serpentine Gallery complete with headturning brass canopy have been approved by Westminster Council.
For this high-profile commission, London- and Malta-based architect Mizzi and his team will deliver a new café near the Serpentine Lake, on behalf of the Colicci brand which has secured a major contract with The Royal Parks to also deliver a family fleet of nine “handcrafted” kiosks across Hyde Park, Green Park and St James’s Park, this autumn.
The new Serpentine Café, which is sited a stone’s throw from Zaha Hadid’s Serpentine Sackler Gallery, with views towards the picturesque Serpentine Lake in one direction and the Princess Diana memorial to another, is at once dramatic, swooping and sinuous. Inspired by both the lake itself and a stingray’s flight, this stunning design will give the appearance of a giant golden cape being pulled through the air over the entire structure.
With installation set for November, the Serpentine Café promises to be a focal point for the millions of park visitors who are drawn to this corner of the park, year after year, as an ongoing source of inspiration.
The team designed the structure to work on two important levels – firstly, to evoke the spirit of nature and the organic, and secondly to deliver an engaging and unforgettable user experience.
“Our design took inspiration from the Serpentine Lake itself – its name and meandering shape – and infused those influences with new levels of movement and texture,” Mizzi said. “We created heightened drama by integrating the sweeping motion of a stingray’s flight into the canopy. The form of the roof was designed to reach its climactic point while hovering above the entrance, as though a zoomorphic cape had been pulled through the air over the entire cafe.”
The building coexists with its environment as a semi-transparent open space that blurs boundaries between indoors and outdoors. It has been designed to be both utilitarian and artful and to be built for longevity and constant use.
Mizzi Studio has collaborated with Col- icci on a number of projects over the past six years including the multi-award winning copper café at London’s Westfield Stratford shopping centre and The Pheasantry Café within Grade I Listed Bushy Park.
Andrew Varnava, Catering Contract Manager, The Royal Parks, said: “The designs are a great fit with the Parks’ unique surroundings and are made with sustainable materials and state-of-theart manufacturing methods. The vision is refreshing and innovative.”
Mizzi added: “I am absolutely delighted that the plans have been approved. It is an honour to have been entrusted with such a prestigious site. This is an important milestone for the studio and is central to our commitment to innovative design for the public realm.”