A property developer hired Morag Myerscough to design and build a pop-up cafe to spruce up the area around the Greenwich rail station for the London Olympics. The result was the eye-popping Movement Café (MVMNT Café), which is built from recycled shipping containers, reusable scaffolding, and brightly painted wood walls. Constructed in only 16 days, the cafe was open just in time for the start of the Olympics to serve up locally sourced, food and drink - including homemade vegan-friendly gelato - to spectators headed out to Greenwich Park.
With less than a month to go before the Olympics started, property developers The Cathedral Group asked Myerscough to design a cafe for the corner of a vacant industrial lot. Located directly next to the Greenwich DLR station, the cafe was meant to serve as a point of welcome for spectators coming to Greenwich, offering a little respite as well as food and drink. With just 16 days to complete the task, Myerscough brought on a building team led by Danny Elphick to construct the cafe. Shipping containers serve as the basis of the cafe, and they can be locked up at night to keep the restaurant essentials safe. Reusable scaffolding and shade structures were erected around them to create a pleasant cafe atmosphere.
While construction commenced Myerscough worked with the official Olympic poet, Lemn Sissay, to paint a poem he wrote about Greenwich on the exterior wall. The words atop the cafe are from one of his morning tweets. Brightly colored geometric designs were painted on the wall and the cafe to attract passersby. Then artist Luke Morgan of Supergroup created the custom furniture and cushions for the seating area using water-resistant material recycled from kites. The MVMNT Café is run by the local non-profit organization Greenwich Co-Operative Development Agency. They are still serving up organic, fair-trade, locally-sourced foods and drinks to customers, and profits going to help disadvantaged communities across London. The temporary cafe will be open until December.
