Chiswick House Café
London, United Kingdom 2006–2010
Client: English Heritage Grade I listed setting RIBA London Building of the Year
Caruso St John was commissioned by Historic England (formerly English Heritage) to design a new café building within the historic gardens of Chiswick House in West London. The new café was part of a wider masterplan for the regeneration of the whole of Chiswick Gardens, a site of international importance, both as the location of great innovations in English landscape design and as the setting for one of the most beautiful houses in London.
The masterplan involved the restoration of the historic landscape and garden buildings, and the addition of new facilities including the café, so that the operation of the garden could be brought into a sustainable balance and its condition could be permanently maintained. The new café building is located close to Chiswick House on the east side, where stable buildings once stood. The project involved both the building and its garden setting. The L-shaped plan of the building frames the corner of an open lawn on the south side, connecting the café site visually to the house and the surrounding historic gardens.
The cafe has a stone colonnade across its main elevations, terminating in a portico-like front. Its elevation recalls the arcaded façades of the stable wings of country villas in the Veneto, such as Palladio’s Villa Angarano, and through these references makes a strong spatial link back to the main house. The colonnade provides a space for covered exterior seating around the main room of the cafe, from where visitors have a panoramic view south of the surrounding lawns and mature trees.
Drawings
Site plan
Floor plan
Sections
East elevation
West elevation
Reflected ceiling plan
External loggia wall detail
External entrance wall detail
Chiswick House & Gardens
Related news
Chiswick House Cafe has won a RIBA London Award, the RIBA English Heritage Award for Sustaining the HIstoric Environment and the RIBA London Building of the Year Award.
Award
Civic Trust Awards
Chiswick House Cafe has won a Civic Trust Award.
Chiswick House Cafe is a finalist in the 2011 Civic Trust Awards. The winners will be announced on 4th March.
Nomination
2011 Mies van der Rohe Award
Nottingham Contemporary and Chiswick House Cafe have been nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award, the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture.
Credits
Location
London, United Kingdom
Date
2006–2010
Client
English Heritage
Area
450m²
Caruso St John Architects
Adam Caruso, Peter St John
Project team
Rod Heyes, Ah-Ra Kim
Structural engineer
Gifford
Services consultant
Roger Parker Associates
Cost consultant
Press and Starkey
Main contractor
Thomas Sinden
Landscape
JB Landscape
Insitu concrete
Siday Construction Ltd
Photography
Hélène Binet
Awards
RIBA Award
RIBA English Heritage Award
RIBA London Building of the Year
Civic Trust Award
Nominated, EU Mies van der Rohe Award
Related projects
Hospitalfield Arts
Arbroath, United Kingdom
2013 – present
Düngerbau
Uetikon am See, Switzerland
2022–present
Riverside Project, Magdalen College
Oxford, United Kingdom
2022–present
Darwin College
Cambridge, United Kingdom
2018–present
Gladstone's Library
Hawarden, United Kingdom
2018–2020
Peterloo Memorial
In collaboration with Jeremy Deller
Manchester, United Kingdom
2018–2019
Museum for a Roman Villa
Pully, Switzerland
2017
United Kingdom Holocaust Memorial
In collaboration with Marcus Taylor and Rachel Whiteread
London, United Kingdom
2016–2017
Schulhaus, Neuhausen
Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland
2015–2020
Canterbury Cathedral Organ Loft
Canterbury, United Kingdom
2016–2020
Neue Pinakothek
Munich, Germany
2016–present (under construction)
Görtz Palais
Hamburg, Germany
2017–2022
Stockholm City Library
Stockholm, Sweden
2014–2019
Heong Gallery, Downing College
Cambridge, United Kingdom
2013–2016
Ozeanium, Basel Zoo
Basel, Switzerland
2012
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Liverpool, United Kingdom
2012–2015
Swiss Life Arena
Zurich, Switzerland
2012–2022
Bremer Landesbank Headquarters
Bremen, Germany
2011–2016
Lycée Hôtelier de Lille
Lille, France
2011–2016
St Gallen Cathedral Chancel
St Gallen, Switzerland
2011–2013
Sir John Soane's Museum
London, United Kingdom
2009–2012
Nagelhaus
In collaboration with Thomas Demand
Zurich, Switzerland
2007–2010
Dining Hall, Downing College
Cambridge, United Kingdom
2005–2009
Tate Britain
London, United Kingdom
2007–2013
Education Centre, Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve
Essex, United Kingdom
2003
V&A Museum of Childhood
London, United Kingdom
2002–2007
Spike Island
Bristol, United Kingdom
2003–2006
Hallfield School
London, United Kingdom
2001–2005
Barbican Concert Hall
London, United Kingdom
2000–2001