Clacton Garden Centre
Project Overview
Project: New Build Cafe/Restaurant & Associated Car Park
Client: Smith Farms Clacton Ltd
Contract value: £720k
The owners of Clacton Garden Centre wished to utilise unused space on their semi-rural site to expand and enhance facilities with a new café/restaurant together with a ‘walk-in’ coffee shop takeaway area, both supported by a commercial kitchen.
The new café was designed by Inkpen Downie Architects and the contractors were TJ Evers. Daniel Connal Partnership provided Employer’s Agent services on the 24 week scheme, which was procured under a JCT contract.
Clacton Garden Centre
Designed to be low impact and energy efficient, the single storey building, is naturally ventilated with low level windows and high level roof lights creating a stack system. Large areas of glazing are provided towards the east and south elevations to maximise solar gain, take advantage of natural daylight and views of the existing garden centre. The building materials used are appropriate to a rural setting – metal framework with timber cladding. The landscaping features annual and perennial planting schemes to illustrate and inspire customers visiting the garden centre.
The completed project has created an attractive and vibrant facility, which supports the rural economy and provides local job opportunities. This community benefit aspect resulted in the project qualifying for Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) grant funding.