A good drink is obviously a key draw when in search of a place to rest and grab a coffee during a park walk; but great architecture comes a close second, with design acting as a beacon that attracts visitors, enhancing their experience and sense of recharging. In Hyde Park's latest coffee house, guests can now get both these things for the price of one, courtesy of emerging London and Malta based practice Mizzi Studio.
The compact building replaced a small kiosk on site and is part of a series of highly architectural coffee spots that Royal Parks are rolling out across Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. The whole scheme comprises some 10 structures, all designed by the young studio, which is headed by architect Jonathan Mizzi.
‘Like a serpent that comes out of the lake, a smiling stingray'
‘The parks exist to enrich the life of the visitors', he says. ‘The kiosks may be small, but they provide a very important service. This was an opportunity for the parks to transform their identity and really enrich the visitor experience'.
The new coffee house is different to the kiosks, primarily because of its size, but also due to its distinctive approach in terms of shapes, methods and materials. ‘[The structures] all share a genetic make up, but each one is a little different', says Mizzi. The studio's approach is inspired by both modern and traditional techniques. ‘We found our voice in fusing the digital with the physical and the human element', he explains.
RELATED STORY
So, the coffee house design mixes influences from both context and the digital architecture world, as well as engineering advances. The structure was conceived like a ‘serpent that comes out of the lake, a smiling stingray', says Mizzi, who put together an impressive, curvaceous brass roof (‘it's a regal but earthy colour', the architect points out) and a glass box underneath. At the same time, looking up makes you think of a ‘reptilian underbelly', explains Mizzi.
The use of the right materials was very important for Mizzi to get the effect he desired, and the team combined glass, terrazzo floors, blue tiles and metal, with roof milled out of one piece of foam in CNC and laminated in carbon fibre. The brass effect is subtly polished and hand patinated to perfection. Connecting with a lived-in, human and tactile element was key for the team, when creating a structure among nature.
One more kiosk is due to launch in Hyde Park this autumn completing Mizzi and his client's vision for this sequence of functional mini-structures, aiming to enrich the park-goers' visitor experience through design; while offering some top quality coffee to boot.
INFORMATION
-
This compact gym by Cassina and Technogym takes up less than one square metreGiulia Foscari's Ottagono becomes a compact gym created with Cassina and Technogym, which just made its debut at the Hotel du Cap Eden Roc
-
Dutch Design Awards 2025 honour a new generation of creativesRecognising the use of AI as a design tool, social commentary, and new materials, this year’s Dutch Design Awards go to Vera van der Burg; Willem de Haan; and Marten van Middelkoop and Joost Dingemans of Plasticiet
-
The return of Genghis Cohen: LA’s cult Chinese diner lives onThe 1980s Chinese-American landmark returns with red booths, neon nostalgia, and a fresh dose of Hollywood eccentricity
-
The architectural innovation hidden in plain sight at Frieze London 2025The 2025 Frieze entrance pavilions launch this week alongside the art fair, showcasing a brand-new, modular building system set to shake up the architecture of large-scale events
-
RIBA Stirling Prize 2025 winner is ‘a radical reimagining of later living’Appleby Blue Almshouse wins the RIBA Stirling Prize 2025, crowning the social housing complex for over-65s by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, the best building of the year
-
‘Belonging’ – the LFA 2026 theme is revealed, exploring how places can become personalThe idea of belonging and what it means in today’s world will be central at the London Festival of Architecture’s explorations, as the event’s 2026 theme has been announced today
-
Join us on a first look inside Regent’s View, the revamped canalside gasholder project in LondonRegent's View, the RSHP-designed development for St William, situated on a former gasholder site on a canal in east London, has just completed its first phase
-
The Royal College of Art has announced plans for renewal of its Kensington campusThe Royal College of Art project, led by Witherford Watson Mann Architects, includes the revitalisation of the Darwin Building and more, in the hopes of establishing an open and future-facing place of creativity
-
Ursula K Le Guin’s maps of imaginary worlds are charted in a new exhibitionUrsula K Le Guin, the late American author, best known for her science fiction novels, is celebrated in a new exhibition at the Architectural Association in London, charting her whimsical maps, which bring her fantasy worlds alive
-
Power Hall’s glow-up shines light on science and innovation in ManchesterPower Hall at The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester was given a spruce-up by Carmody Groarke, showcasing the past and future of machines, engineering and sustainable architecture
-
Celebrate the angular joys of 'Brutal Scotland', a new book from Simon Phipps'Brutal Scotland' chronicles one country’s relationship with concrete; is brutalism an architectural bogeyman or a monument to a lost era of aspirational community design?
