Serpentine Colicci Cafe Design, London Park Kiosk Building Project News

Serpentine Kiosk London Café

New TRP Building in Kensington Gardens, London design by Mizzi Studio, UK

29 Jun 2018

Serpentine Kiosk, London Royal Parks Café

Serpentine Building

Design: Mizzi Studio

June 2018 – award-winning Mizzi Studio is delighted to announce that its plans for a landmark building opposite the Serpentine Gallery, complete with head-turning brass canopy, have been approved by Westminster Council.

In addition, planning permission has been granted for another nine free-standing sculptural kiosks across London’s Royal Parks.

In the largest mobilisation The Royal Parks has seen in 14 years, the studio – along with Colicci, the artisan family brand of cafés, kiosks and restaurants – won a competitive bid that will see these designs revolutionise central London’s open spaces.

image courtesy of architects

For this high-profile commission, London-based architect Jonathan Mizzi and his team will deliver a new building near the Serpentine lake that will house a café, as well as nine “handcrafted” kiosks to replace ageing coffee kiosks on existing sites across Hyde Park, Green Park and St James’s Park, this autumn.

The new Serpentine building – 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 Fountain in the other – 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.

Serpentine Sackler Gallery building:

photograph courtesy of Luke Hayes

With installation set to commence on 26th September, and anticipated to take three months, the new building and sculptural kiosks will enhance the visitor experience, making a refreshment stop at one of these beautiful structures an integral part of a journey through the parks.

The new Serpentine café, which will open its doors in December, is defined by a sculptural brass roof that playfully undulates, inviting park visitors under its textured canopy and into the glazed pavilion. The building co-exists with its environment as a semi-transparent open space that blurs boundaries between indoors and outdoors.

The freestanding kiosks are conceived as a family of individual curvaceous structures with a graceful tree-like canopy that are united in their design language. Seven of these structures will be clad in hand “steam-bent” English oak timber and two will be covered in sculpted tubular brass.

Responding to the Grade I listed landscape, Mizzi Studio has designed the new building and kiosks to sit sympathetically in their environment. All the kiosks will mirror the Colicci brand – and its artisan products – through the use of sophisticated, sustainable and warm materials. Mizzi Studio has collaborated with Colicci on a number of projects over the past six years including the award-winning copper café at London’s Westfield Stratford shopping centre and The Pheasantry Café within Grade I Listed Bushy Park.

Together with Colicci’s Director Rob Colicci, Jonathan Mizzi, Director of Mizzi Studio, spent months exploring the parks’ heritage. Each structure is unique, tailored to the history, nuances and demographics of its respective site. For example, the striking brass horseshoe kiosk in St James’s Park – a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace – mirrors the ornate precious metals that adorn Sir Thomas Brock’s iconic Queen Victoria Memorial.co-exists with its environment as a semi-transparent open space that blurs boundaries between indoors and outdoors.

Andrew Varnava, Catering Contract Manager at The Royal Parks, said: “We’re thrilled with Mizzi Studio’s refreshing and innovative design. The kiosks are a wonderful fit with the Parks’ unique surroundings, and are made with sustainable materials and state-of-the-art manufacturing methods, reflecting our own aim to be a leader in sustainable park management.

Added Jonathan Mizzi, “I am absolutely delighted that the plans have been approved. It is an honour to have been entrusted with such a high-profile project of this size and scale. The kiosks form an important part of The Royal Parks’ heritage by serving the public with refreshments and acting as local information points. The design challenge was to create a family of functional sculptures with a goal to continuously surprise and delight while further enhancing the visitor’s experience. This is an important milestone for the studio and is central to our commitment to innovative sustainable design for the public realm.”

www.mizzi.co.uk instagram @mizzistudio

THE ROYAL PARKS (WWW.ROYALPARKS.ORG.UK)

The Royal Parks (TRP) is a charity created in March 2017 to manage 5,000 acres of historic Royal parkland across London. Every year, there are an estimated 77 million visits to The Royal Parks, providing unparalleled opportunities for enjoyment, exploration and healthy living in the heart of London. TRP looks after eight of London’s largest open spaces: Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, The Green Park, St James’s Park, Richmond Park, Greenwich Park, Bushy Park, and The Regent’s Park & Primrose Hill.

It also manages other important open spaces in the capital including Brompton Cemetery and Victoria Tower Gardens, and maintains the gardens of 10, 11 and 12 Downing Street. In 2017, TRP took over managing the parks from The Royal Parks Agency – a former executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), as well as fundraising and education from the Royal Parks Foundation.

The two organisations joined forces to create this charity and bring together the best of fundraising, education and park management. The parks are owned by the Crown with statutory responsibility for their management resting with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The Royal Parks charity manages the parks on behalf of the government. For further information please visit: www.royalparks.org.uk or follow TRP on @theroyalparks

MIZZI STUDIO (WWW.MIZZI.CO.UK)

Winner of multiple awards, including FX Magazine’s Breakthrough Talent Award, multidisciplinary practice Mizzi Studio works across all scales and sectors through architecture to industrial design, lighting, interactive design and commercial artworks. Clients’ dreams are listened to, encouraged, explored and brought to life using the best technologies and techniques required to realise spectacular feats of design and construction. Mizzi Studio strives to make a difference through innovative, original and imaginative design, transforming ideas and fantasy into reality.

JONATHAN MIZZI

Maltese British designer, Jonathan Mizzi, qualified as an architect at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL where he was awarded a Commendation for his work in Neo Futuristic design in Architecture. During his education he also attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles and Escape Studios in London studying Digital Set Design, Visual Effects and Animation. Mizzi’s love for science fiction and high-tech architecture led him to work as a concept designer at Foster and Partners before going on to further explore media and architecture with renowned interactive design studios, Jason Bruges Studio and Cinimod Studio. Jonathan founded Mizzi Studio in 2011 fusing design, architecture and art into one holistic workspace.

COLICCI (WWW.COLICCI.CO.UK)

Leaving his native Italy in 1978, Ernie Colicci arrived in London with a very clear dream …… to sell ice cream. He met his soon-to-be wife Josephine and co-founded Colicci in 1982, operating an ice cream van around parks in London. Some 35 years later the company may have changed beyond recognition – operating some 34 sites and employing over 250 people – but the core ethos remains: to serve quality coffee and freshly baked goods by upbeat, friendly and knowledgeable staff. As well as operating fixed kiosks and cafés/restaurants at sites such as Kensington Gardens, Richmond Park, Dulwich Park and Westfield Stratford City, Colicci also serves ice cream at all of the RHS’s events including the Chelsea Flower Show.

ROB COLICCI

Before joining Colicci in 2008, Rob gained experience away from the family business as a commodities trader in the city. In 2012 he spearheaded the successful renewal of a major contract within The Royal Parks. This was directly followed with rebranding the company to Colicci (formerly ECSI). In 2016 Rob went on to win further contracts at Westfield Stratford, Dulwich Park, Peckham Rye Park and Kensington Gardens. In early 2018 he successfully secured the renewal of the Hyde, St James’s and Green Parks contract for a further 10 years.

Serpentine Kiosk, London Royal Parks Café information / image from Mizzi Studio

Location: Kensington Gardens, London, W2 3XA , England, UK

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