Description

TQ88SW CANVEY ISLAND WESTERN ESPLANADE
Labworth Cafe

1658-/4/10002 II

Cafe with integral shelters. Built by Ove Arup, Christiani and Nielsen 1932-33. Functional International Moderne style. Built of reinforced concrete with flat roof. Circular drum of cafe on first floor level supported on piles (now concealed by rise in land level) with two arms extending from this enclosing shelters with steel piers on the seaward side. Hardwood windows extend the full diameter of the circle with some top opening lights. Entrance by doorcase in splayed bay facing sea supported on 4 metal columns. Staircase to cafe which has circular columns supporting ring beam and original shallow cone-shaped light fittings. Doors lead on to roofs of shelters which originally had thin steel columns supporting canopies. A pioneering building of the Modern Movement which predates the Gorilla House at London Zoo by Lubetkin and Tecton's Penguin House, and one of the only architectural designs by Ove Arup.

Listing NGR: TQ8014282398

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Labworth Café at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q6467706

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
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  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair