News

Plas Glyn-y-Weddw is very proud to have received the gold award for outstanding visitor experience, and also the quality food and drink award from Visit Wales.

The sculpted new cafe which has been developed to an unique design was opened officially on the 18th of March by Lord Mervyn Davies, Lady Jeanne Davies of Abersoch and Gareth Wyn Edwards, Chair of the John Andrews Charitable Trust.

The objective of the café redevelopment was to replace the failing C20 conservatory with a visually striking and environmentally sensitive cafe. A key aim was to provide a fully equipped kitchen to improve efficiency, achieve better working conditions for staff and create more space for seating and events to increase footfall and income. It was also important that the new café connected into and complemented the historic Grade II* listed mansion built in 1856-57 for Lady Elizabeth Love Jones-Parry as a Dower House by the Bangor-based architect Henry Kennedy. As the oldest art gallery in Wales, it is perhaps not surprising that the trustees of the charity chose to think about the redevelopment in a creative way like the artists whose work they display in the gallery. The result is an artist-led solution that combines the requirements for a larger café with site-specific art.

In developing the design the artist MatthewSanderson researched influences in society and architectural precedent at the time the original neo-Gothic mansion was built. It was a period when the nation was gripped with scientific fascination, obsessive exploration, collecting and interpretation into the decorative arts: Charles Darwin’s book, ‘Onthe Origin of Species’, was published in 1859 and his contemporary Ernst Haeckel, the marine biologist and artist, was discovering, illustrating and naming thousands of new species.

The sculpted café is inspired by the site’s historical precedents and the adjacent marine life present today. The beautiful southeast-facing Llanbedrog bay is part of a Special Area of Conservation, host to many species, some of which are special and unique to the area. One such organism, the sea urchin is the inspiration for the eleven-metre-wide, self-supporting structure. The outer shell is the most dramatic element of the design with a colony of 89,000 ‘acorn barnacles’, individually punched and pressed components,welded to their subframe that scatter natural light to minimise internal solar gain. Their highly recycled marine grade 316 stainless steel material is resistant to the chemical and physical weathering present in this coastal location.

Within the urchin structure, a central ‘oculus’ spills natural light into the space below and opens to passively ventilate the café during warm weather. The funnel-shaped chandelier is a separate but integral sculpture inspired by the microscopic zooplankton ‘Litharachnium Tentorium’. 12 sculptural beams that follow Fibonacci’s spiral radiate from the occulus to meet equivalent columns that are joyfully connected to four-pointed arches that echo the style of the Gothic house. Each arch
frames a portal view to the surrounding coastal and woodland views.

The project brings other enhancements to the centre, including the creation of new toilet facilities within the historic mansion approached from the café via an open colonnade allowing flexible and fully accessible use of the whole centre.

Click here to view a film documenting the development

We are delighted to announce that the development of the new cafe and kitchen has begun, and we look forward to opening to the public early next summer.

While the development work is carried out, we have created a temporary cafe on the first floor of the gallery.

We are extremely grateful to all the funding bodies and individuals for enabling us to bring our plans to reality. Whilst we have sourced sufficient funds for the development work, the fundraising campaign continues for the fit-out stage.

There is a great opportunity to sponsor the development by having a name of your choice engraved on a stainless steel disk that will be incorporated into the cafe's external cladding. You can choose up to maximum of 25 letters (minimum of 10 letters), for £10 per letter. Call at the gallery or otherwise telephone or email if you wish to receive a sponsorship form.

Modern toilet facilities have been developed at Plas Glyn-y-Weddw during the winter of 2020-21 resulting in a huge improvement in accessibility. The new development was much needed due to the old toilets being small and dated. The improvements also includes a new electrical supply and improvements to the drainage facilities.

Further improvements are now taking place over the winter of 2020-21 with the development of a new cafe and kitchen facilities.

We wish to extend our thanks to the Welsh Government's Museums, Archives and Libraries department for funding from their Transformation Capital Grant scheme and also to the John Andrews Trust for enabling us to realise the first phase of the redevelopment project.

Recently, the Friends of Plas Glyn-y-Weddw along with the Music Fund group of Plas Glyn y Weddw, raised £1,000 to buy a difibrillator for the Gallery.