Restaurant will blend into park

A restaurant designed to resemble a foliage-covered slope is to be developed in St James's Park, London.

The Royal Parks Agency plans to demolish the existing, circular Cake House and replace it with a semi-underground restaurant with large windows overlooking the lake. The landscaped roof will offer visitors seating and a timbered promenade.

Designed by Michael Hopkins and Partners, the building's low green profile will offer views of the surrounding buildings in Westminster and Whitehall.

The new £1.6m building will be developed, built, funded and operated by a private sector investor in a public/private partnership, for which the agency is inviting bids. The building is scheduled for completion next summer.