The Mappin Terraces, Including the Mappin Cafe is a Grade II listed building in the Westminster local planning authority area, England. First listed on 21 February 1989. Zoological garden, cafe. 2 related planning applications.
The Mappin Terraces, Including the Mappin Cafe
- WRENN ID
- spare-minaret-summer
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Westminster
- Constituency
- Cities of London and Westminster MP: Rachel Blake (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 21 February 1989
- Type
- Zoological garden, cafe
- Address
- The Mappin Terraces, Including the Mappin Cafe, Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park Nw1, City of Westminster, NW1 4RY
- OS grid reference
- TQ 279 834
- Coordinates
- 51.53503, -0.15669
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Mappin Terraces, including the Mappin Cafe, are located in the Zoological Gardens of Regent's Park, built in 1914 with the cafe constructed between 1920 and 1927. Designed by Belcher and Joas, with Alexander Drew of Somerville's as the Consulting Engineer, the terraces are made of reinforced concrete using the Kahn system and feature concrete cladding. The cafe is brick-built with a low-pitched pantile roof.
The structure has a quadrant ground plan with the cafe at the apex and terraces that rise towards the outer edges, creating a picturesque arrangement resembling four ranges of goat mountains. There are three concentric viewing terraces accessible by steps on the south and west sides of the quadrant. The cafe is also quadrant-shaped, consisting of one storey with three two-storey corner pavilions topped with pantiled pyramidal roofs.
An open colonnade with paired Tuscan columns faces the Mappin Terraces, while paired Tuscan columns are applied between bays on the other two sides. The windows feature floor-to-ceiling glazing with four lights each, timber transoms, casement windows, small panes, and timber glazing bars. The Mappin Terraces represent an early and innovative example of reinforced concrete construction and were pioneering in their effort to create a 'natural' environment for animals.
Local climate
The Mappin Terraces, Including the Mappin Cafe sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 93% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 94% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 51% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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