Ignatius Sancho Café
- Client
- The Royal Parks
- Procurement Method
- Traditional
- Services Provided
- Lead Consultant and Architect RIBA Stages 1-7
- Status
- Completed 2024
- Scale
- 100m²
David Morley Architects led the upgrade of Vanbrugh Lodge for The Royal Parks in the southeastern corner of Greenwich Park in London. Originally a private residential lodge, the building has been sensitively reimagined as a café, set within the newly landscaped Vanbrugh Yard. Adjacent to the café, a new community garden and volunteer hub further enhance the park’s community facilities.
- Client
- The Royal Parks
- Procurement Method
- Traditional
- Services Provided
- Lead Consultant and Architect RIBA Stages 1-7
- Status
- Completed 2024
- Scale
- 100m²
Vanbrugh Lodge’s new design and material palette respect the exemplary heritage buildings set within the park’s Grade I listed landscape, part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. The café’s materials were carefully selected for their low environmental impact, durability and contextuality, and the extension, a new small single-storey addition to the east, is formed in brickwork to match the existing building as closely as possible. The retrofit enhancements have improved the historic building’s energy performance, achieving the highest EPC A.
Café interior view
“We are thrilled to be opening this brand-new café and to have transformed this private yard into a beautifully landscaped space for park visitors to enjoy, while also providing new facilities for our valued volunteers.”
The café is named the ‘Ignatius Sancho Café’, in honour of the British writer, composer and abolitionist Charles Ignatius Sancho, who in earlier life was enslaved by a family near Greenwich Park before building a distinguished career and gaining recognition in Georgian London.
Greenwich Park Revealed
The project is part of Greenwich Park Revealed, a four-year initiative dedicated to protecting, restoring, and enhancing the park for both the local community and visitors for generations to come. David Morley Architects collaborated closely with Price & Myers, Chapmanbdsp, JoH Design, and Borras Construction to help bring The Royal Parks’ vision for Greenwich Park to life.
Exterior view and community garden
