THE GARDEN CAFÉ & PARABOLA, THE NEWT, SOMERSET

We were engaged by Emily Estate to undertake a prestigious contract within the Hadspen Estate in Somerset to include the formation of several buildings for various uses by our client to enrich the experience of their visitors to the Estate.

The garden café building was designed to sit naturally within the existing sloping terrain and surrounding tree canopy allowing magnificent views of the Parabola garden and beyond past the hotel and into the estate. The unique design also includes building around an existing tree on site.

The construction was a lightweight steel frame bearing onto screwed piles and vast expanse of glass façade allows the building to appear suspended and almost weightless within the air.

The D-shaped Parabola is home to a collection of apple trees, arranged in a Baroque-style maze. Every apple growing county in England is represented, with trees intricately trained to form curious shapes. The curved walls were constructed in the local stone to retain the large planting beds and areas.