Black Park New Cafe Building Works
Construction has started for our new café building to replace the refreshment kiosk and toilet unit. For visitor and contractor safety, there will be access and parking restrictions during the works Oct - Jan 2025.
For updates on building progress, visit our Projects Page
Black Park's New Cafe Building
Competition winners!
We are delighted to announce the winning name for our new building at Black Park Country Park.
The new café will be called “Four Seasons Café”, a name chosen by three Buckinghamshire residents.
Viv, Frances, and 9-year-old Theodora all independently submitted the name suggestion, which a panel of judges chose as the winning idea out of 239 entries.
Cllr Clive Harriss, Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure, said: “I’m very pleased to announce the name for the new building will be Four Seasons Café at Black Park. We were overwhelmed with the number of entries received for the naming competition and it has been excellent to get the local community involved in this exciting new facility for Black Park. I am looking forward to congratulating the winners in person at our special opening event for the café, and I hope they are able to make the most of their competition prize of year’s free parking, and spend plenty of time at the park over the next year.”
The new café, which is in the final stages of construction, has indoor and outdoor seating, an external hatch for takeaway snacks and drinks, and improved toilet facilities.
It is on track to open in time for Easter 2025, and more information will be released about the opening date soon.
The Country Parks Team is proud to announce that Buckinghamshire Council has been granted full planning permission for a new modern fit-for purpose building that will replace the existing refreshment kiosk and portakabin toilet unit in Black Park. This will be in the same location, designed to minimise the impact on the site and trees.
The new building replaces the former dated kiosk with a contemporary inclusive open plan space with both indoor and outdoor seating areas. The floor to ceiling windows will maximize natural light and create an indoor-outdoor flow utilising views of the surrounding woodland. For those of you with muddy boots and dogs who would like to stop for a quick takeaway coffee & hot/cold snack there will be an external serving hatch.
Impact on our Visitors
Some of you may have seen that the refreshment kiosk at Black Park has been removed and our building construction team have begun works for our new café building.
There is a coffee trailer in the interim until the new building is up and running. We will also have an ice cream van onsite during school holidays and weekends. The toilets are open as usual.
Keep an eye out for regular updates both onsite and on our website to update you with exciting progress as this project develops.
Dates of disruption
October 2024 – January 2025: Our construction company Modulek have taken possession of site. For visitor and contractor safety, there will be access and parking restrictions during this time.
January - March 2025: Landscaping works surrounding the building will continue. For visitor and contractor safety, there will be temporary path closures and parking restrictions during this time.
What the project involves
The development will significantly improve the facilities we currently offer to our visitors within Black Park Country Park, placing the communities needs at front and centre.
We have worked closely with key stakeholders to provide a design that celebrates and compliments its natural lakeside surroundings, while creating a sense of place and having a positive impact on future users.
Taking inspiration from the setting, the new building measuring 183sqm is designed in its scale and appearance to connect with its location, clad in Scandinavian redwood panelling that will weather over time, blending in with the natural landscape. The building will have rubber membrane roof including solar panels, powder coated aluminium windows and doors, an air conditioning unit and air source heat pump.
The Country Parks Team have worked in partnership with landscape architects to design an improved landscape surrounding the building, works will be staged after the construction has concluded.
How the building is being constructed
We have chosen to use a modular construction company. ‘Modular construction’ is the utilisation of off-site technology. 70% of the modular construction will be completed in factory-controlled environments minimising disruption to both visitors and the environment.
The building will then be transported to Black Park in large modular sections where the remaining 30% is completed to provide the vital look, feel and final finishes of a traditional build, making it impossible to tell them apart.
Modular construction reduces the carbon footprint of the project by having less impact on the Environment than traditional builds. The modular sections are delivered whole resulting in fewer deliveries and less trades being required on-site than on traditional construction projects. Precision engineering using the very latest technologies in the off-site production process, results in less waste of materials compared to traditional build.
Further information
If you have any questions or would like to know more about this project, please contact countryparks@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or call 01753 511060.