Tea House, Tollymore Forest Park, Bryansford, Newcastle

Tea House, Tollymore Forest Park

This striking purpose-built teahouse was constructed in 1978-79 to designs by Ian Campbell & Partners, with Rodgers Bros of Castlewellan as contractor. Set within the spectacular Tollymore Forest Park on the foothills of the Mourne Mountain range, just south of Hilltown Road in Bryansford and west of Bryansford Road in Newcastle, the building occupies mature, well-maintained parkland and provides a stunning example of late twentieth-century design.

The teahouse comprises a robust ground floor housing a shop and ancillary functions, with the tearoom located on the first floor. The ground floor walls are finished in roughcast render with corner battered buttresses formed in squared rubble granite. The first floor structure and intermediate columns are board-marked concrete, with curtain walling of continuous glazing set over timber sheeting on all four sides. A mansard roof is covered with fibre cement slating.

The building's most distinctive feature is its independent pyramid arch roof structure, supported on round timber posts of 250mm diameter at 7.8 metre centres with a central post to the first floor slab. The perimeter supports are braced externally by diagonal timber poles with bolted "Boy Scout" connections. The structural softwood decking ceiling spans up to 3.9 metres between the main arch ribs of sawn softwood. The four pyramids open to the tearoom space, while an inverted central pyramid accommodates storage tanks and ducting. All timber elements are stained blue-black and contrast with bright red timber cladding and joinery throughout the building.

The design employs thoughtful and innovative detailing. A novel rainwater system features chains dropping from guttering to gravel beds, designed to direct water away from the structure. Stout timber doors cover the shop entrance when not in use. The building exhibits a strong diagonal theme, expressed externally in the bridge entrance, recessed ground floor walls, and chamfered corners to the roof. The robust ground floor detailing was specifically designed to resist vandalism, while the lightweight first floor provides panoramic views across the surrounding forest.

Access to the tearoom is via a pedestrian bridge constructed using the same timber pole and bracing system as the main structure. The bridge spanned a small curving ornamental pool, now drained but retaining its original cobbled floor.

Shortly after completion, the teahouse received a Royal Institute of British Architects National Award in 1980, one of only seven buildings honoured throughout the UK that year. It subsequently won a Civic Trust Commendation in 1980 and an An Taisce Award in 1984. The timber materials employed throughout possess obvious resonance with the surrounding forest, creating a harmonious relationship with the landscape setting. The building has closed in recent years owing to its design not meeting current building regulations regarding disabled access. The listing encompasses the tea house, bridge, and cobbled area.