Dell Restaurant

Dell Restaurant is a cafe built in 1964 by architect Patrick Gwynne for the Ministry of Public Building and Works, in collaboration with Forte's and Company. The building features a central concrete core supported by deep piles, which holds radiating and tilting steel trusses that cantilever over the Serpentine. Steel columns align with the glazing line, where large plate glass windows are directly fixed. The restaurant has a polygonal plan based on an underlying octagonal form and is a single storey structure with an office concealed beneath a tent-like roof made of glass reinforced plastic. The concrete floor slab is clad in Brescia Violetta marble. A projecting balcony surrounds three sides of the building, featuring tilted steel railings that support pre-cast terrazzo seating alongside trapezoid-shaped tables arranged to complement the zig-zag shape of the structure. The design, created during 1963-1964, is notable for its imaginative lightweight form and material use, making it an extremely rare surviving example from an important architect known for his work in shop and restaurant design.