Design mockups for the controversial Amalfi Beach Club have been revealed, and they sure as hell don’t blend in with the surrounds of Bondi Beach like we were promised.
The first photo was made public in a Facebook post on April 9, however the club’s backer Janek Gazecki has since given additional mockups to The Sun-Herald which published the photos on April 25.
The result is… not pretty. The structure is basically two shipping containers decorated to resemble the architecture of Italy’s Amalfi Coast, which Gazecki also claims will somehow pay tribute to the iconic Bondi Pavilion.
The 30×25-metre space would have cabanas and day beds for roughly 100 guests, effectively cordoning off that part of the beach to people who can cough up $80.
Sure the architectural style itself is nice, but it’s completely at odds with the art deco architecture Bondi is famous for, as well as the iconic graffiti and mural wall that runs the entire length of the beach.
“It’s not a squeaky clean modern building, but something replete with history which conjures up quintessential connotations of a laid back European summer,” Gazecki told the Herald.
The comments on the official post look positive yet they’re suspiciously written like high school debating arguments. Whoever runs the page has also been accused of deleting negative comments.
However in other corners of the internet, such as the (admittedly biased) “WE OPPOSE AMALFI BEACH CLUB – Action Group” on Facebook, locals didn’t hold back.
“That dead-set looks like it was designed by a part-time designer out-sourced by Bunnings who was asked to come up with something ‘Mediterranean-themed’,” one person commented.
“As tacky and as tasteless as we’ve come to expect from this chancer.”
Gazecki plans to lodge the development application for the Amalfi Beach Club later this week, however NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes has already vowed to veto the whole thing.
Gazecki also used his chat with the Herald to shit on the very same locals who he needs to win over in order to his whole idea to be successful, anyway.
“Bondi Beach is certainly famous for a vocal and active component of its local population with a penchant for opposing innovation and progress,” he said.
Sheesh.
