Labworth Cafe

Labworth Cafe is a cafe with integral shelters, built by Ove Arup and Christiani and Nielsen between 1932 and 1933. It showcases a Functional International Moderne style and is constructed from reinforced concrete with a flat roof. The cafe features a circular drum at first floor level, supported on piles that are now concealed by a rise in the land level. Two arms extend from this drum, enclosing shelters with steel piers on the seaward side. The hardwood windows span the full diameter of the circle, with some top-opening lights. The entrance is through a doorcase in a splayed bay facing the sea, supported by four metal columns. Inside, a staircase leads to the cafe, which has circular columns that support a ring beam and original shallow cone-shaped light fittings. Doors open onto the roofs of the shelters, which originally had thin steel columns supporting canopies. This building is a pioneering example of the Modern Movement and predates the Gorilla House at London Zoo by Lubetkin and Tecton's Penguin House. It is also one of the few architectural designs by Ove Arup.