INDIANA restaurant leasee Andrew Forrest and his wife Nicola have suffered a setback, with the public rejecting one of the designs for the landmark site on Cottesloe Beach.
Announcing a delay in their Minderoo Group project on Friday morning, the couple said 53 per cent of the public backed a shortlisted design by Fremantle-based Kerry Hill Architects (KHA).
That’s compared to just 10 per cent favouring a concept by Sydney’s Burbach Block Jaggers (DBJ) that was chosen by the project’s design jury last year.
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READ NOWBoth designs included a beach-side pool, more hospitality outlets and improving the site’s public facilities.
The remaining 37 per cent of the public asked in eight community consultation sessions across Perth late last year backed keeping the existing Indiana.
On Friday morning, the couple congratulated DBJ on its “creative interpretation of the brief and unique reimagining of the site”, but said other redevelopment options would now be explored.
“We want to consider the community feedback and explore a design that we’re confident will be an improvement to the current site,” Mrs Forrest said.
Mrs Forrest said although the public feedback was mixed, the overwhelming majority agreed the Indiana was in need of an upgrade, but there were concerns how both of the potential designs would have integrated with the foreshore.
The public will be asked for its views again once the group decides on the next stage of the design process.
Minderoo plans to start preliminary talks with Cottesloe Council in coming months.