Ian Burgess has the sort of infectious, restless energy common among small business owners. Not content with running trailblazing east London cafe and roastery Climpson & Sons, as well as Brat x Climpson’s Arch, this year he’s turned his attention to the Kent coast, which he calls home. In April he opened a new Climpson & Sons cafe-bar on Deal’s handsome high street. Then in May, just up the road in sleepy Upper Walmer, he launched something rather more unusual: a cafe-cum-car wash and micro-nursery named The Green Garage. Yes, you read that right: coffee and cars.
“At the end of the first week, Dave [McHugh] was in the back hoovering and I was out the front sorting the car wash stuff and I just remember saying ‘what the fuck have we done, Dave?’ We had nice lives, and now we’re cleaning people’s cars: where’s it all gone wrong?” Burgess tells Broadsheet, laughing, as he recounts the launch week of his most unusual project to date.
Burgess has opened The Green Garage with his friend and fellow east London émigré David McHugh, founder of Notting Hill Arts Club and Toppers hair salon in Hackney. The pair took over the tumbledown 96-year-old garage on something of a whim. “It all started with the building really,” Burgess says. “Me and Dave bought the building when we saw it advertised because we’d always been fond of it, driving past. We didn’t know what we were going to do with it, but we just loved the space.”
Where many people might have driven past and just seen a couple of run down sheds or, let’s be real, a money pit, Burgess and McHugh saw potential in the garage, with its scuffed concrete floors, exposed brick walls and bottle green exterior. “It’s got fantastic light,” Burgess says. He has previous form reimagining historic spaces: Climpson’s Arch is housed in a converted Victorian brick railway arch. “I guess being around Hackney, you see old buildings being repurposed in a creative way, and we both love history. We put a new roof on because that was shot, but we’ve kept it as raw and original as possible.”
Knowing that a standard cafe wouldn’t fly commercially, thanks to the low footfall in what’s a relatively quiet residential area, the pair came up with the novel idea of offering a car wash – “everyone around here has a car” – as well as Swedish buns by local baker Malin Hamilton, aka Bygga Bo, and coffee. They also called in the help of their friend Malgosia Lonsdale, who has curated a micro-nursery of plants that thrive in the coastal climate, and there’s a charming Gardeners’ World honesty library of gardening books and magazines that can be borrowed free of charge.
In its former life, the garage specialised in repairing vintage cars. McHugh – a self-confessed classic car nut – nodded to the heritage space by quickly installing his shiny British racing green Austin A35 in the middle of the interior. It now also houses a sleek pastel green bar, behind which you can find Burgess and his crew brewing Climpson & Sons coffee.
There’s a wonderfully collaborative scrappiness to the space, which retains many of its original features (think retro petrol signs, tools and hard hats hanging from peg boards), juxtaposed against more intentional cosy cafe touches. Burgess found the coral pink powder-coated wire-frame chairs on the street shortly after opening, and the largest table was donated by Walmer Castle; the Queen Mother is rumoured to have eaten at it. The latest addition is a five-foot Garfield stuffed toy which now lives in the back of the Austin. McHugh has also installed hairdressing chairs, and the pair is toying with the idea of adding haircuts into the mix, too.
Beyond the coffee and buns, micro-nursery and car wash (the garage offers a range of services from an exterior or interior detail to a full deep clean), the space doubles up as a community hub and events space. So far, it’s hosted photo exhibitions, an oyster shack and a Swedish meatball night, and the first edition of Test Shed, a quarterly creative night featuring local comedian and musician Anna Byrne, and a choir led by musician Alice Gold.
Of course Burgess has plenty of plans rumbling away in the background, and he talks of a more significant food menu in the near future, with burgers and breakfast baps made using local ingredients for people to drive up and collect. “I do see it as a great food destination in the future, drawing on our experience and connections from Climpson’s Arch. But until then, we’ll keep washing cars.”
The Green Garage
7 Station Road CT14 7QR
Hours:
Tue to Sat 9am–4pm
Sun 10am–4pm
