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The café at Aberglasney has established an excellent reputation for the quality of its fare. Created from three former estate workers cottages, it commenced trading concurrent with the Gardens’ opening in July 1999. It is operated on licence, let by competitive tender against a performance specification set by the Trust. It has internal accommodation on two floors (including toilets on the ground floor) and an extremely popular external terrace overlooking Pool Garden. Its popularity, and the limits imposed by the physical size of the premises, means that at very busy times, demand exceeds the accommodation available. The Trustees have considered various schemes to extend the premises and to improve the facilities provided for visitors to the gardens. Most recently the re-creation of a ‘Vinery’ – constructed on the ‘footprint’ of the former glasshouses in the Pool Garden has been proposed. This could be extended to cover an area of existing terrace and provide a substantial area of additional serving / function space.
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It is envisaged that vines will again be on the historic site, with café furniture interspersed therewith. It will also have potential for use for a range of functions requiring catering support, boosting the gardens attractiveness to an increased range of users. The profile of the proposed structure is intended to enable it to abut to the (listed) crenulated stone walls without alteration thereto. It is also desirable that both the terrace and glasshouse window ranges should open as much as possible – to give an uninterrupted seated view of the gardens - by concertina arrangement of the widows / doors or by a track mechanism. Subject to the availability of funding, the Trust would wish to proceed to enter into design discussions with the Consultant Architect, with a view to proceeding to appoint him to produce drawings sufficient for meaningful consultations with the officers of the Local Authority to secure Planning and Listed Building consents. The scheme can subsequently proceed to procurement in the conventional manner by competitive tender to a select list of suitable Main Contractors and pre-selected specialist subcontractors. In conjunction with the Trust’s Consultant Quantity Surveyors, a budget of £450,000 has been determined for the 223 sqm structure at an estimated rate of £2,018 / sqm. This includes main contractor’s preliminaries and a 10% contingency. Note that changes to the interior of the existing Gardeners Cottage Café may become an essential consequence of the scheme proceeding, providing enlarged kitchen facilities in response to an increased demand. This is estimated at a further £150,000 and is deemed to be an essential element of the work.