The first of a family of nine kiosks, designed by award-winning architecture and design practice Mizzi Studio on behalf of artisan brand Colicci for prominent locations in The Royal Parks in London, has opened at Ritz Corner, Green Park. Eight more kiosks will open through the winter, culminating with the opening of a new landmark café, designed by Mizzi Studio, on the Serpentine Bridge in spring 2019.
The organic-inspired designs for the family of kiosks and new café respond sympathetically to the Grade I listed landscape and embody the ethos of The Royal Parks as a sustainability leader. Mizzi Studio has used sustainable materials and traditional craft techniques, together with state-of-the-art manufacturing methods, to create simple, functional forms that are both striking and elegant.
The kiosks will mark the entrances to Green Park, Hyde Park and St James’s Park and are conceived as a family of individual forms that are united in their design language, with a 360-degree sculptural canopy that swells out like a tree’s crown creating a recognisable silhouette. The organic-inspired volumes follow a continuous shape with varying degrees of curvature and differing cladding profiles, that provide contrasting textures to the surface. Each design variation is informed by the architectural or organic elements that the kiosk shares its space with.
The flagship Horse Shoe Bend kiosk in St James’s Park, in view of Buckingham Palace, will be clad in tubular brass and mirror the ornate precious metals that adorn Sir Thomas Brock’s Queen Victoria Memorial, while the choice of timber cladding for the rest of the kiosks rests on the relationship with the park environment. Entrusted with bringing Mizzi Studio’s curvaceous design to life, Tom Raffield is steam-bending the oak cladding. Mizzi Studio has used high quality materials throughout the design, from sustainable oak to oxidised copper, new copper, stainless steel and brass.
Jonathan Mizzi, Director of Mizzi Studio, commented:
“We are absolutely delighted to see the first kiosk open in Green Park. It is an honour to have been entrusted with such a high-profile project of this size and scale. The kiosks form an important part of The Royal Parks’ heritage by serving the public with refreshments and acting as local information points. The design challenge was to create a family of functional sculptures with a goal to continuously surprise and delight while further enhancing the visitor’s experience. This is an important milestone for Mizzi Studio and is central to our commitment to innovative sustainable design for the public realm.”