Files sent in March 2019 by architect Stuart Webber after a visit to the Mission. Along with two sketches he submitted he sent a document telling how the bar came to life.
Historical information
"26th March 2019
In contribution to the historical account of the Mission to Seafarers, Melbourne.
To whom it may concern,
In 2005, the Mission to Seafarers’ Padre Bevil Lunson assigned an upgrade to the existing bar and gift shop. The brief outlined alignment with health code and liquor licence regulations, rethink of stock display and aesthetic upgrade of white peg-board and fluorescent-lit display-case.
Two students of architecture answered the call and provided pro bono design, building and installation services. Beyond the updated flooring, work surfaces and new hand-wash point their ethos of sustainable design presented a strategy of redressing the existing on a shoe-string; helping minimise trades and protect the heritage substrate.
A new standing-bar was proposed to envelope the display case and re-orient the hall back toward the stage. Punters were directed to the seated-bar for purchases. The chosen palette aimed to anchor the bar below the hall’s half-timbered dado-line utilising the muted tones of recycled materials. Glass bottles set in resin diffusing panels and timbers sourced from throw-outs were dressed and composed to suggest the multiple approaches to a calling of the sea.
This flotsam and jetsam was intended to provide a shifting background that is representative of the many walks of life that support and are supported by the mission.
Two uninstalled elements further accented the design:
-the flying angel logo was to appear hovering within the bar’s archway and also inverted by the dado-line in the bar’s rear mirror (refer attached sketch),
-and the two lampshades, referencing the inverted form of nautical beacons, were to shepherd clientele to the bar (refer attached sketch).
Where are they now?
Derek Stevenson – Turner Townsend Thinc
Stuart Webber – ARM Architecture
What would you like to do?