Cafe Culture

Cafe Culture

Reed Watts Architects has completed a pergola-inspired garden cafe at London’s V&A Museum

Photos
Simon Kennedy

Reed Watts Architects has completed its third and largest project at London’s V&A Museum, a new cafe and pergola in the John Madejski Garden. Designed and completed in less than four months, the elegant steel structure defines a new space for seating in the museum and provides a dual-fronted counter for the museum’s cafe operator.

Inspired by the traditional garden pergola and taking the rhythm of the existing building as a starting point, the structure is designed to sit lightly in the garden without interrupting views of the courtyard. Visible ‘in the round’ from within the museum as well as the garden, the new counter had to look attractive and accessible from all directions, says the architect. To achieve this, we proposed a dual-fronted counter that provides more space for display and sales than was previously possible, improving efficiency for customers and sales for the client.

Site and ground-floor plans; section

The steel frame is designed to respond to the museum’s varied needs and can be adjusted or entirely removed for future events and displays. A series of bespoke, panels employing a combination of three shades of green vitreous enamel line the base of the cafe. An aluminium coil mesh curtain sits above the enamel and is drawn across the counter at night when the cafe is closed.

The rich, dark material palette is intended to complement the myriad textures of the museum’s outdoor spaces, as well as its traditional brickwork, temporary installations and elliptical garden pool.

To deliver the project on time and with minimal disruption to the museum, the majority of the building elements were fabricated off-site for installation overnight. Careful planning ensured that works to existing services and structure were reduced, and new elements were designed to be safely carried through the museum without the need for cranes or complex lifting equipment. Construction was completed in just over two weeks.