Silecroft Beach Cafe

Location: Silecroft, Cumbria

Construction Budget: £380k

Status: Competition

An outline design for an eco-friendly beach café for a parish and community group in the south-west corner of the Lake District National Park. Overlooked by the distinctive Black Combe fell and with views across the Irish Sea to the Isle of Man the site is a truly spectacular setting for a new community and visitor centre.

Our proposals separate the front and back-of-house aspects of the building into two pavilions offset in plan with an entrance foyer and exhibition space linking the two. This offset allowed us to create two alternate external terraces offering shelter from the wind – whatever its direction. The taller, more open pavilion houses the main café for 30 covers and a small retail area, each with panoramic views. The lower pavilion contains support spaces including an office, kitchen with servery and toilet facilities.

The design references traditional seaside pavilions and in using vernacular forms is intended to be familiar yet different in its scale and composition to local buildings. A layered timber façade and large windows emphasise these characteristics and give the building a proportion and elegance to unmistakably establish it as a contemporary public building for Silecroft.