The Kitchen Poole Park
Waterside Café & Landscape Scheme
Following the success of DMW’s renovations of “The Ark”, the practice was appointed to remodel and extend a prominent lakeside building within Poole Park. The goal was to transform the existing underperforming exclusive restaurant into a welcoming, accessible café and community hub, open to all visitors of the park. The project focused on creating a space that would become a local favourite, catering to both park-goers and tourists while maintaining the aesthetic and functional needs of the park environment.
Project Directors: Sean Daly, Ryan Martin
Project Leads: Britt Crayston, Mark Senior
Planning Consultant: DMW
Contractor: Greendale Construction
The design for "The Kitchen" aimed to revitalise an underused waterside building and create a vibrant, inclusive space including:
Remodelling and Extending the Existing Restaurant: The original restaurant was reimagined and extended to create a more open, inviting space. The design preserved key architectural elements while adapting the structure to meet community needs and improve the flow of visitors.
Incorporating an Ice Cream Café: A dedicated ice cream café was introduced as a satellite building, offering a relaxed and family-friendly addition to the facility, with views of Poole Park's scenic surroundings.
Inclusive Public Space: The landscaping around the building was carefully designed to create an accessible public amenity space. The project centred around an existing mature tree, which became a focal point of the new landscape scheme, providing shade and a sense of place within the park.
