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Re-working an "icon": Indiana Tea House
Space People - Oh, how this will divide our town! Twiggy Forrest yesterday released his first plans for the reimagined up-til-now very much-photographed, yet very much underused Indiana Tea House at Cottesloe Beach. We’re predicting a riot. Much like Scarborough’s Blue House—which was hated as much for going up, as it was for coming down—we have a feeling we’re going to hear some passionate arguments for why the Tea House should remain in its movie-set state, acting as a fancy photo backdrop, but largely impenetrable to the general public. Something we all do is attribute emotions or personalities to buildings - but often those tingly feelings exist only in our mind. I mean, when was the last time you went inside the Tea House? What’s even in there now? Actually, what even is it? We ‘love it’ but not enough to use it… In an attempt to reinvigorate the site, both for locals and the huge number of tourists that visit every year, Mindaroo has acquired the Tea House and has since undertaken a community consultation process calling for feedback on dream uses for the beach-front space. This feedback was then projected through the lens of 11 invited architects, four of which were shortlisted - the designs of which you might have seen in the papers yesterday. From here, a further consultation process will continue to ensure as much local input (and as few ruffled feathers) as possible. If you are interested in looking at the designs and responding to Mindaroo, they have a feedback application up on their website today. While the idea of losing the current structure will be a shock for some, Indiana’s mock-heritage facade and lack of current usability (other than by the Cott Surf Lifesaving Club below) make it slightly easier to advocate for its demolition. Plus, the current site has a vibrant history of building-and-rebuilding as it has responded to the changing needs of the community. 1929 saw the original Indiana Tea House transform into the ‘Centenary Pavilion’. In 1982 the Century Pavillon was demolished to make way for the ‘Cottesloe Beach Pavilion’, and in 1994 the CBP was remodelled into the Tea House as we currently know it today. We’re not sure if one of these designs is ‘the one’, but we do agree it’s time for another iteration, one which reflects both Cottesloe’s position as a best-beach-in-the-world-beach, and enables an inclusive and dynamic usage for the site. Bring on a fresh stack of bricks we say (plus an ocean pool, and some nice, well-designed, interesting places to meet and spend time)! See ya next week, SM x ——— Haven’t had a chance to fill out our small bizz survey yet? We’d love your thoughts if you’ve got a moment: 2019 SPACEMARKET SMALL BUSINESS SURVEY
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