DISH (Dine In Southall), Southall Manor House

Southall Manor House Grounds, in the London Borough of Ealing, is made up of the landscape around and within Southall Manor House. The site is located in the south west corner of what remains of the old Manor House’s estate, which is now a public park.

The project brief was to use the existing building and landscape to create an environment for DISH (Dine in Southall). The overarching aim being to create a unique and commercially viable business that would:
- provide jobs and training opportunities for local residents in catering and hospitality;
- support local businesses; and
- enable ‘place making’ objectives for Southall

...all while reintegrating the historic asset and adjacent gardens.

The biggest challenge of this project was to integrate the historic manor house back into its eclectic environment. The historic building had been neglected for years, cut off from its surroundings by iron railings and a rather brutal civic square.

The architects – Architecture00 – proposed a building with a mixture of functions including a traditional restaurant and bar (to generate revenue), an education space, community work spaces and a flexible function space that could expand out into the garden as required. The landscape proposals needed to sensitively set the historic building into its new context whilst unifying all these functions. SEED Landscape Design worked closely with Architecture00 in the production of their landscape feasibility study, which then informed their brief and the subsequent planning application.

This was an important and sensitive project for Ealing: the Manor House is a Grade II* listed building and there was a lot of local sensitivity about the proposed changes to the building and adjacent parkland.

By involving Cultivate London, SEED also succeeded in securing an evolving and exciting future for the landscape, as well as providing the charity with a canvas on which to do what they do best; having a positive and long-term impact on the lives of young people and change the way Londoners think about their fresh produce and where it comes from. The relationship between DISH and Cultivate London will continue through Auberon and also hopefully through Cole (who is one of the success stories of Cultivate London) as he looks to leave the charity and set up his own business.

The visual aspect of the landscape has also been successful and the building and landscape are now sensitively integrated within their various contexts. The house and landscape is now open, engaging and welcoming. This together with Cultivate London’s use of the garden for its social betterment mission is perhaps the greatest proof of the project’s success.