Boultham Park

ARCHITECT

Thomas Ford & Partners

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT & URBAN DESIGNER

LDA Design

MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING

BCA: Bob Costello Associates

DETAIL

Boultham Park is a much-loved green space in Lincoln that underwent a £4 million restoration project to improve facilities and preserve its heritage. A key part of this transformation was the development of a new café to serve the local community and provide opportunities for young people with learning disabilities.

Linkage Community Trust, a charity supporting people with learning disabilities, was appointed to run the café. Cooper8 was invited to design the café space to reflect Linkage’s operational approach, building on the success of their existing Manby Gate House Café, which employed learners from local colleges.

Understanding that the café would provide training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, inclusivity was placed at the heart of our design process. Key considerations included:

• Wheelchair accessibility within the kitchen, ensuring ample turning space for mobility aids.
• Rise-and-fall worktables and an induction oven to allow wheelchair users to work alongside colleagues.
• Accessible staff facilities, including a disabled toilet within the changing area.

The design was developed in close collaboration with Linkage to balance operational needs with inclusivity.

We were recommended for the project by Thomas Ford & Partners, with whom we had previously worked on the National Trust’s Polesden Lacey Visitor Centre. For Boultham Park, we joined forces with LDA Design, the project’s landscape architects and urban designers, to ensure the café fitted seamlessly within the wider park restoration.

Sustainability was also a key driver for the wider project. Casey Construction implemented Hempcrete blocks within the café and glasshouse build. This innovative material is recognised as “better than zero carbon” – absorbing significant amounts of CO₂ during hemp growth, using low-energy production methods, and providing superior insulation (U-Value 0.13 vs. 0.3 for EPS). This approach reduced long-term energy use while supporting the project’s environmental goals.

The Linkage Boultham Park Café is now open daily from 9am to 2pm, serving breakfast, light lunches, homemade cakes, and Stokes award-winning coffee. It has quickly become popular with visitors enjoying the park’s woodland, lake, and green spaces.

More importantly, the café provides meaningful training and employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities, combining social value with excellent community service.

This project demonstrates how thoughtful catering design can go beyond functionality to deliver:

• Inclusive employment opportunities in hospitality.
• Accessible kitchen design that enables wheelchair users to work independently.
• Sustainable construction methods with long-term operational benefits.
• Community value embedded within a heritage restoration project.

Featured photo courtesy of Linkage Community Trust