NARRATIVE
Old meets new
Margate is famously known for its seaside beach and is home to the famous Dreamland Amusement park with 100 years of history. However, the increase in the popularity of city life and outbound holiday packages has led to tourism becoming almost obsolete and sending Dreamland into multiple closures, especially the famous Sunshine cafe, which has been deserted since its closure in 2007. Previously a diner, cinema, ballroom and more, the state of the closure has led to the site age with layers of decay that have been accumulated over the years. Although resuming operations for the Dreamland amusement park is a reality - as per the Heritage trust's wishes, the Sunshine cafe has seen no signs of opening until the heritage trust has offered a chance for a programme to be introduced to the site that can allow for the reopening of the site with the conditions of the programme has to bring the local community of Margate together. While Margate is rebuilding its tourism reputation with youth-filled events, the community is often forgetting the elderly population - the most dominant age group in Margate in retirement homes, who was responsible for what Margate is today and minority ethnic groups - that make up just 4.9% of Margate's population but holds the power of cultured cuisines in Margate.
So how can we bring these two communities together?
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Memories hold powerful stories and emotions that can be conveyed through each generation that can turn into legends or physical evidence such as books. Much of our history of the different eras of our world has been conveyed through journals, drawings, photographs or even story-telling. Margate's history in the near future can be told by the elderly who hold wise memories and the ethnic communities who experience growing up in Margate with two different cultural identities.
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Margate Memoir has been created to bring the ethnic and elderly communities together to operate a story-telling centre that allows people to experience their memories in through visual and acoustic methods and to record their own memories for others to read. The valuable data of memories are preserved for the next generation of people to experience and record as part of the ongoing history of the world.
During this phase, it was required to conduct an in-depth site survey and analysis and use the necessary data to draw the entire site and its immediate surroundings, as a coherent set of plans, sections and elevations.
Phase 02 required us to reconnect the physical elements of the site with its social dimension. A methodology was developed that builds on the social, cultural and heritage makeup of the site and its context to create new experiences that can prompt interaction and shape communal memory.
In this phase, a clear design concept was introduced to the clients and final design ideas were introduced as part of the program that will shape the Sunshine cafe.