May 17, 2013
As fans of and frequent visitors to dear old Margate (and no, don’t worry, we aren’t the dreaded ‘DFLs’ that some people seem to dislike- a couple of us here were born and bred in Margate) we were excited to hear that Channel 4 was taking a trip down to our favourite, and the original, English seaside town as part of Mary Portas’ new series ‘Mary Queen of the Highstreet’. The ‘Queen of Shops’ aims to bring back the highstreet to ailing towns around Britain using the retail expertise stored beneath her cinnamon bob, merry Margate was her latest stop.
The usual hotspots were pushed and praised of course (and rightly so): The Turner Centre, the old town and the harbour; whilst the familiar grey beacon of Margate’s skyline, Arlington House tower block (just along from our much missed Dreamland), stood defiant across the bay.
Arlington House is always overlooked, always maligned and never appreciated for what it does possess. It’s Margate’s Marmite- and we love it. It was whilst watching the grey filtered shots of ‘wasteland’ Margate, which we all know journalists love to exaggerate, that our designer had a colourful idea.
Granted, it needs some TLC, but can no-on else see Arlington’s sharp 60’s angles? Look at those lines, it’s got a great shape, and we think the colour is what puts most people off- so why not brighten things up a bit? (Oh and before any moaning begins, what are the other options? Knock it down? Never!)
So, as an example, we’ve used the colour spectrum of our lovely LEUCHTTURM1917 notebooks to transform the facade of this iconic building into an eye catching centrepiece. The 18 floors of stripes are based upon the core colours of these notebooks- our designer created this in a spare 10 minutes so imagine the possibilities if a few artistic minds could get together and turn Arlington House into Margate’s biggest art installation!
Coloured panels, reflective glass panels, or what about images or films projected onto its faces at night? (sorry tower residents, we haven’t really thought that one through) There’s plenty that can be done to make Arlington House an unlikely jewel in the crown.
and with a slight twist…
#maryqueenofthehighstreet #queenofthehighstreet #welovemargate #notedinstyle
Original photo- Charles Holland
