By Jodie Nesling
Looking across the skyscape from the former Frank’s nightclub the sea glimmers blending into a multitude of colours.
Once a familiar sight for noughties clubbers the building on Ethelbert Terrace was left derelict but has now been reinvented with the Rendezvous restaurant downstairs and now, upstairs, a new work and cultural events space designed to bring the community together.
Faith in Strangers is a concept by Margate-based Richard Randels and Jeremy Duffy, who have been friends since the age of 12 after meeting at their comprehensive school in London.
Scrolling through properties on Rightmove the seafront building with its garish interiors caught the eye of Jeremy who immediately saw the potential, even if he didn’t initially know what for.
Richard explained: “We have spent a lot of time thinking about what we wanted to do – we wanted to do something quite frontier. We felt the best and most important ideas were not being put to the front so we challenged that.”
The building has undergone extensive renovation works with state-of-the-art lighting and the entrance space created to be used for pop-ups and exhibitions.
From cocktail masterclasses to indie film screenings and techno nights, the events programme will share the same space as the co-working area. Modula furniture partly handmade by creatives in Thanet will help transform the area from day to night and seamlessly blend to inspire people to mix and share ideas.
Gender neutral toilets with changeable lighting inside will reflect events going around the town and there will be a shared wash basin.
“We want people to engage with the person next to them, the toilets will definitely be a talking point.” explained Richard.
The 300 capacity venue features sound proofing from the engineer, who worked with legendary east London club Plastic People, and the new sound system has speakers evenly distributed to level noise.
Richard said: “Margate has welcomed the creative community, when you see some of the stuff going on and the way people have developed their businesses it’s a really exciting. We want people to discover things they wouldn’t normally do.
“The concept of Faith in Strangers is incredibly important to how we think we live in times of polarisation and need to start thinking about where we find our common ground?”
Membership to Faith in Strangers events programme is £3 which is the administration fee. To find out more visit faithinstrangers.co.uk