Colicci announces collection of new sculptural cafés and kiosks with The Royal Parks
Colicci, an artisan family brand of cafés and kiosks in London, today announces its collaboration with The Royal Parks to launch two new landmark cafés, The Serpentine Café in Hyde Park and Storey’s Gate Café, in collaboration with chef Theo Randall, in St James’s Park. In addition, a family of nine sculptural kiosks will open this autumn, offering a range of locally sourced food and drink, including London’s first health-focused park café. Award-winning architecture and design practice, Mizzi Studio, has been appointed to design the new outlets which will be built at noteworthy locations including the entrances to Hyde Park, Green Park and St James’s Park.
With the first kiosks in place this autumn and the remaining set to be installed through 2019, the cafés and kiosks are designed to enhance the visitor experience, making a refreshment stop at one of these stunning structures an integral part of a journey through the parks. Serving healthy breakfast, brunch and lunch using the finest local and seasonal ingredients, alongside freshly baked cakes and pastries from the Colicci bakery, locally roasted single origin coffee and ice cream, the cafes and kiosk structures are organically-inspired and will be sympathetic to the Grade I listed landscapes of the different parks.
Storey’s Gate café
London’s first healthy food café in The Royal Parks will open in Spring 2019 in St James’s Park, and is a collaboration between Colicci, award-winning chef Theo Randall and The Royal Parks. Theo Randall has worked with Colicci to devise a healthy menu with a large choice of vegan dishes using seasonal produce. Breakfast and brunch includes Crunchy Coconut Bircher Muesli; Acai Bowl topped with seasonal berries, coconut shavings, cacao nibs, goji berries, chia seeds and pecans or a selection of cakes. For lunch, the café offers a selection of hot and cold dishes such as Soft Chili Cheese on sourdough; Roast Butternut Squash with red onion, tahini and za’atar and daily soups. The café also offers a selection of juices, smoothies, coffees and gelato.
The new structure, designed by Article Design Studios, will use methods and finishes that are sympathetic and complement the existing and adjacent architectural details, with a warmer tonal palette which draws inspiration from the autumnal colours found in St James’s Park. The interiors will be clean, elegant and inviting, using hexagonal shapes and limited timber.
The family of nine kiosks
Offer a similar range of food and drink but each have unique dishes tailored to the respective site. These include a range of sweet treats such as fresh waffles served with nutella, oreo cookies and ice cream; Gelupo Gelato; Prosciutto, rocket, mozzarella and chilli jam filled croissants and cakes from the bakery. Lunch offers a range of hot and cold piadina wraps such as chicken, bacon, avocado, tomato and mayo; Sourdough Toasties; Ciabattas; Salads and fancy hot dogs such as the Crispy Dog with BBQ sauce, coleslaw and crispy bacon.
The kiosks have been conceived by Mizzi Studio 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. Eight of the kiosks are clad in oak, while the flagship Horse Shoe Bend kiosk in St James’s Park is clad in tubular brass.
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 visually captivating. Curvaceous oak cladding has been designed by Mizzi Studio for a number of the kiosks, and Tom Raffield - who has become known for transforming wood through a unique method of steam bending - has been entrusted with bringing the design to life.
“We’re absolutely delighted to have extended our long-standing partnership with The Royal Parks. Food and drink are an important part of everyone’s day, and we believe in pairing great tasting fresh food with a truly memorable experience. By pioneering a ‘collection’ of revolutionary kiosks and cafés we have pushed the boundaries in design and architecture. Now you can buy your cup of coffee from a sculpture in the park.”
- Rob Colicci.
Notes to editor
About Colicci
Established in 1982 by Ernie and his wife Josephine, Colicci is a family business that has grown from a single ice cream van to now having an operation of over 30 fixed sites in London’s most visited parks with a mixture of cafes, kiosks, restaurants and beautiful ice cream trucks. Ernie Colicci had a dream of selling ice cream and grow a business so left his native Italy for England where he bought his first ice cream van. Colicci joined forces with The Royal Parks in 2004 after being asked to fill a vacant site in Hyde Park. This new collaboration meant selling more than just ice cream so the pair diversified into food and drink. In 2014 Colicci opened its own dedicated bakery, supplying handmade cakes and pastries to over 30 sites in London. Colicci won the Restaurant & Bar Design Awards in 2017 for their iconic copper roof at their Westfield Stratford kiosk.
W: www.colicci.co.uk | E: info@colicci.co.uk | S: @colicciuk
About Mizzi Studio
Mizzi Studio is an award-winning architecture and design practice with studios in London and Malta. Working across a diverse range of disciplines, scales and sectors, Mizzi seek out projects that have a positive social and cultural impact. Through better design, we strive to add tangible value and enhance the physical world. Their approach fuses traditional craft with the latest digital manufacturing techniques, and parametric design with a careful consideration of human factors. Drawing inspiration from the natural world and science fiction, their work is distinguished by colour, texture and warmth, accentuated by kinetic and sensory technology, creating transformative and experiential results. Founded in 2011 by Maltese-British architect and designer, Jonathan Mizzi, their work has been acknowledged by numerous awards including FX Magazine’s Breakthrough Talent Award (2017). Mizzi Studio is a RIBA Chartered Practice.
W: www.mizzi.co | T: +44 (0) 207 183 2774 | E: pr@mizzi.co.uk | S: @mizzistudio
About Tom Raffield
Tom Raffield has become known for the transformation of wood using his unique method of steam bending to create the studio’s signature curved aesthetic and designs with a twist. The woodland studio provides the backdrop for a team of skilled makers trained by Tom.
“Each piece we create has been on an experimental journey - individual, organic and carefully considered. We source everything from sustainable woodlands and coupled with the low energy steam bending process, it is very ecological with little wastage,” explains Tom Raffield.
Handcrafted in his studios in Cornwall, the range of contemporary lighting and furniture Tom Raffield creates is based on beauty, integrity and a desire to create unique, high-specification products that will be cherished by their owners for years to come.
W: www.tomraffield.com | E: media@tomraffield.com|S: Twitter & Instagram: @tomraffield | Facebook: @tomraffielddesign
About The Royal Parks
The Royal Parks is a charity created in March 2017 to manage 5,000 acres of historic Royal parkland across London. Every year there are an estimated 77 million visits to The Royal Parks, providing unparalleled opportunities for enjoyment, exploration and healthy living in the heart of London.
The Royal Parks looks after eight of London’s largest open spaces: Hyde Park, St James’s Park,The Green Park, Richmond Park, Greenwich Park, Bushy Park, The Regent’s Park and Primrose Hill, and Kensington Gardens. It also manages other important open spaces in the capital including Brompton Cemetery, Victoria Tower Gardens, and the gardens of 10, 11 and 12 Downing Street.
It costs £36m a year to manage the parks. The Royal Parks charity raises around 75 per cent of this money itself, with the remaining 25 per cent coming from Government.
W: www.royalparks.org.uk | E: press@royalparks.org.uk|S: Twitter:@theroyalparks, Facebook.com/TheRoyalParksLondon and Instagram.com/TheRoyalParks
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Posted: 04.10.18
Updated: 15.11.18