I stopped by the Queen’s Gardens this week on hearing the news that the winning design for the new café has been revealed. Following an in house competition with lead architects of the Taberner House site, AHMM, the winner was revealed as Dora Felekou who said to the Architects Journal: “The café’s design is adaptable; it grows with the residents, changing and always versatile, it becomes the centre of their collective memories.”

The brief was developed by local stakeholders at community workshops with shortlisted architects invited to present their designs to locals and park users! Gutted I did not know about this when it happened, I would have loved to have been involved. The winning design seems to be sensitive to its surroundings and provides a new stepped entrance onto Fell Road. This should hopefully entice more people to use the lower gardens as, if you are local, it’s not usually the first area you would stop at it you are familiar with it. The café is set to open in 2020.

All images © Louise Gough