Endless Summer – Glory Days by Cox Architecture

At the heart of the verdant public park fronting Bondi Beach is the nearly 100-year-old Bondi Pavilion, a palatial community institution conjuring Mediterranean coastlines with cream arches and Spanish terracotta tiles. Along the pavilion’s beach frontage is Glory Days, a burnt red and cream limestone cafe by Cox Architecture. Invoking the Australian love of summer holidays while channelling the rich materiality and sun-bleached tones of the pavilion’s European inspiration, Glory Days asks, ‘why rush home?’, inviting you to pull up a linen lounge and make summer last that little bit longer.

This is the latest venture from the Sydney hospitality group Good Atelier, responsible for the Woolpack Hotel and Italian fever dream Glorietta. Diving even deeper into thematic styling, Glory Days is an easy blend of its beachside position, heritage setting and contemporary style, culminating in the ideal destination for summer afternoons. “The Bondi Pavilion is truly an iconic building, and we’re excited to be opening our doors here with a design that is both fresh and respectful of this incredible heritage building. We’re saying every day is vacay,” says the owner, Aaron Crinis.

Diving even deeper into thematic styling, Glory Days is an easy blend of its beachside position, heritage setting and contemporary style, culminating in the ideal destination for summer afternoons.

The aesthetic is retro modern, where classic styling meets contemporary finishes echoing the restored heritage of Bondi Pavilion itself, which occasionally peeks in through the original arched windows, casting fractured shadows as the sun fades across the sky. Texture and variation abound, creating a sensual feast. Handmade Moroccan zellige chalk tiles greet you on entry, leading to the entrancing red travertine bar that sweeps around the venue. The earthy white and Havana tones of the unglazed porcelain flooring invites a barefoot approach, while throughout joyous, washed-out colours and white surfaces reflect the summer sun back at you. There is little adornment of the walls, scarcely needed against the blackbutt timber-batten ceiling and radiant patterning of the rest of the design, save for mirrors framed in scalloped teak and candid holiday snaps by photographer Adrian Meško.

Externally, all that Cox Architecture needed to do was line the alfresco with comfy seating, shaded by scallop-edged umbrellas, and let beautiful Bondi Beach do the rest. A white and chocolate piping pattern repeats across the umbrellas and through the furniture, the sunburnt
tones instantly recalling public pools, melted ice cream and hot footpaths. The inlaid clay tiled benches and tables look as though they were made to pair with the columns of the pavilion’s balustrade. The furnishings perfectly complement the theme, with terrazzo dining tables, teak director’s chairs and white powder-coated steel providing the ideal setting for long mornings and hazy summer afternoons.

On the corner of the heritage-listed Bondi Pavilion, the centrepiece of the Bondi Beach public park, Glory Days offers a sumptuously textured and tonally coloured ode to everyone’s favourite summer holidays. The design is deeply rooted in the past yet expressed through a contemporary approach, setting the scene for Bondi’s community to shine.

The aesthetic is retro modern, where classic styling meets contemporary finishes echoing the restored heritage of Bondi Pavilion itself, which occasionally peeks in through the original arched windows, casting fractured shadows as the sun fades across the sky.