Plans for a new café off King’s Road in Chelsea are going on public display.
It will include an innovative glass facade which will see windows retract below ground much like a car window, believed to be a UK first, and follows an international architectural competition.
The plans by Cadogan for the café in Duke of York Square will go on display in February and provide an opportunity for local people to comment on the plans before they are submitted to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea as a planning application later this year.
The architectural competition took place in 2012 and saw 150 entries from across the world. But designs by London-based Nex Architecture for the independently run new café.
The design is described as modern but in harmony with the heritage and surroundings of the site.
The glass facade will lower into a single storey basement during fine weather - the first of its kind anywhere in the UK - and it will have a circular roof terrace, open to the public as an additional green space to relax.
Cadogan’s Chief Executive Hugh Seaborn said: “We hope that members of the public are able to join us at the exhibition and view our proposals for a contemporary café which will create a great new space for both the local community and visitors to enjoy.”
The proposal builds on Cadogan’s redevelopment of Duke of York Square, completed in 2004, which brought a Territorial Army site back into active use, creating new public space, shops, places to eat and a new home for the iconic Saatchi Gallery .
The public can view the plans at the exhibition held in the Gelateria building on Duke of York Square on February 4 (4pm-8pm) and February 6 (10am-2pm).
The plans will also be accessible from February 4 through www.cadogancafe.co.uk .
