Faith in Strangers – A Dynamic Events, Art and Music Space Launches in Margate
The 350 capacity cultural venue boasts panoramic sea views, interactive art installations, cutting-edge sound system and custom built broadcast suite
At its foundation lies an open plan 350 capacity venue spread across a 6000 sq ft site with views across the DJ booth expanding out to Margate's kaleidoscopic skies and sea, sunset sets will be a prominent feature of the venue utilising the far-reaching views of the horizon. Inside lies soft furnishings aplenty creating a relaxed house party feel. These refined touches rarely coexist alongside the futuristic energy that is usually associated with venues of this type. Faith In Strangers is a combined arts venue at its core, with a focus on music but a strong interest in everything else. The plan is to host arts, culture, science, tech and ideas from all kinds of people from all kinds of places. In the daytime, the same building is a workspace community of freelance creatives. Opening to the public for table service on May 20th following restrictions, with full capacity launch on June 24th. Initially the bar will be open Thursday — Saturdays from 6pm - late with plans to expand as the year progresses.
Richard Randles, co-founder of Faith In Strangers says “Margate has a long history of inspiring people from Joseph Turner to modern-day. We couldn’t think of a better place for this venue and hope that people who visit Faith In Strangers might find ideas and inspiration as well.”
Faith In Strangers wants to create a platform for artists, performers, thinkers and creative minds that often occupy under-celebrated realms yet warrant an audience. A cultural programme ranging from selectors to scientists with a mixture of local talent and people further afield will be announced over the coming weeks and months.
The founders have conjured up a unique blend of sound and light for audiences to enjoy. The venue hosts a unique multichannel array set up of Funktion One speakers with Full Fat Audio amps. 18 speakers placed around the venue creates the opportunity to make spatial soundscapes along with separate individual outputs, evoking a sense of theatre that immerses the audience as they enter the building. An analogue high fidelity stereo pair is also in the works with more info to follow.
Bespoke lighting features surround the perimeter of the venue offering mood lighting during the atmospheric moments to full club mode during others. The data-driven lighting system has been planted into the heart of the building with everything thriving around it. Light interaction will play a leading role for revellers as they will be able to interact with the building itself through movement, gestures and input from the customers themselves.
Jeremy Duffy, co-founder of Faith in Strangers says “We’ve been crafting this for nearly 3 years now. The lockdown has been tough for many and we’re happy we can provide a new space for the neighbourhood. When we talk about a cultural venue, it’s not about having high brow art or the latest trend… It's about exploring the things people can enjoy together, making memories and sharing moments. That’s what we want to provide, the cocktails, music, guest chefs etc are all catalysts for people to get together and find things they have in common with each other. We wanted to create an atmosphere where people can indulge in something other than a distraction.”
Live broadcast will play a major role within the space. The venue has been designed to harness content from multiple different camera set ups ranging from tapping into their CCTV, PTZ cams and DSLRs setups. The one-of-a-kind setup will be controlled from a broadcast booth with up to 21 static and adjustable cameras spaced at key points giving a groundbreaking amount of control to any stream or recording. The idea is to turn the venue into a satellite, platforming and transmitting vehicle for those that could not attend in person giving global reach. Faith In Strangers will capture moments and create episodic content for future viewing once events startup once again.
The team will be equipped to enable art, music, performance and talks to be broadcast, recorded, edited and made available as produced content within the venue. The founders have built the venue with the future of art and interactivity in mind. In practical terms this translates in uniquely designed installations that can be controlled by artists and the audience.
During the day, Faith In Strangers transitions into a workspace with hot desks, hot sofa’s and hot sun loungers. The monolithic concrete bar doubles up as a meeting point and communal lunch area, where the workspace community can help themselves to drinks throughout the day as the circadian lighting, ambient playlist and sea views create a perfect environment to work in. Faith In Strangers is essentially living a second life as a shared workspace community for individuals and collaborators in the creative, artistic, design and wellbeing sectors. Access to the workspace is £120 and by application. The communal workspace then transitions, with careful curation of sound, lighting and scents, into a bar atmosphere from 6pm, during the week and earlier on weekends.
Faith In Strangers is a concept that doesn’t appear very often, if at all. Harnessing the founders core beliefs of creating the very best experience possible within a space that can evolve and change throughout the day/night cycle. The team have reimagined one of Margate’s famous old hang out spots to bring you a new 350 capacity cultural venue for music, art, ideas and good vibes. They believe that everyone could have more Faith in Strangers if entrepreneurial spirit, art and culture were given spaces to be shared in and room to flourish.
Address:
Faith In Strangers, 17 Ethelbert Cresent, Cliftonville, Margate CT9 2DY
