We are pleased to share that planning permission has been granted for a new café near Roehampton Gate in Richmond Park.

Designed by David Morley Architects for The Royal Parks charity, the new café will replace the existing temporary buildings with modern, sustainable facilities and enhanced outdoor spaces, providing improvements to the visitor experience for the community enjoying this popular gateway to the park.

The design for the new café is landscape-led, with the buildings designed to be low-key and to sit quietly in their context. Two modest, timber-clad buildings will be linked by a curving, timber framed canopy supporting a green roof, which defines the outdoor pedestrian area and provides shade and shelter. A palette of natural, attractive, and robust materials, with a significant presence of timber, has been proposed to ensure that the buildings blend into their environment and retain their beauty long term.

Given the context of the site as a National Nature Reserve (NNR) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the outdoor use of the café is as important as the building use is. The café will have a high ratio of outdoor seating, reflecting the predominantly outdoor activity focused clientele including park visitors, leisure and sports cyclists, and those hiring bicycles. As the site already acts as a cycling hub, improved provision for cyclists will be provided including improved hard standing areas, and well-designed and conveniently located cycle racks.

Opportunities for natural play will be included in the area surrounding the site, to further encourage families. Play elements will be provided from timber felled in the park, scrub planting and features such as woven tunnels and dens created from planting.

The ‘Roehampton Restored’ project, led by The Royal Parks charity, will revitalise this part of the park by providing a new “BREEAM – Excellent” certified café. BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) is a long-standing method of assessing, rating, and certifying buildings’ sustainability performance.

As part of ongoing park management, The Royal Parks will continue to enhance the landscape and biodiversity of the wider site in accordance with the Landscape Management Plan. There will be an overall ecological enhancement of the site with a significant increase in biodiversity net gain (BNG) through tree planting, soft landscaping, biodiversity enhancements and more on-site water attenuation.

The Royal Parks are currently determining the timescales for the project.

David Morley Architects have been framework architects for The Royal Parks in London working continuously since 2000 to current. They have delivered a broad range of projects covering various sports, education, masterplanning and hospitality venues. Common to all the projects is their setting within the historic Royal Parks, where sensitive integration of historic landscape and buildings is paramount.

The new project has been featured in AJ: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/david-morley-lands-permission-for-new-richmond-park-cafe