Trafalgar Square café

Trafalgar square - Case Study

project	Trafalgar Sq, Café & Toilet Facility		timescale	Twelve weeks on site
location	Trafalgar square, London
			Square area	1,200sqft
			averages	£300 per sqft

How we met the challenge

The Lord Mayor of London commissioned a design for a café and toilet area in Trafalgar Square. We provided a modern scheme by incorporating honed granite floors and walls with stainless steel, coloured glass, and a grey painted seamless ceiling with down-lighters in both the toilet and café areas. This great project opportunity meant that we could design something exciting and new for visitors coming to Trafalgar Square.

Once the base build was finished we set about surveying the space to make sure that it was true to the drawing. The granite had been ordered a few weeks before so we were ready to start installing the floor and walls together with the position of services which ran under the floor.

Once concepts had been approved we provided a detailed design for the construction team. Particular attention was given to the finishes, lighting and robust details as it was stipulated in the brief that all fittings needed to be hardwearing to deal with constant use.

From the design approval process we were able to manufacture all product and stainless steel panelling to install once the floors and walls had been clad with stone. We began with the installation of the stainless steel toilet cubicles and hand washing facilities and then moved onto the café. Here we had to install specialist units and food preparation equipment.

The ceilings were skimmed with the light roses in situ as the base build was constructed in concrete on both sides of the square. Glass panels and furniture were then installed into each space.

We worked very closely with the contracts team to make sure that the design was implemented from our initial concept. Once the installation was completed we felt that we had achieved something of great value to Trafalgar Square. Our client was also very excited by our input and they felt that we had exceeded all expectations.

As one of the smallest most challenging projects, we have done, we felt that it really became an engineering project rather than architectural work piece. Due to the level of detail required, from the smallest of handles to the detailed stainless steel panels in the toilet area, every detail had to be considered and approved before installation.