An exciting transformation of Bondi Surf Club, officially the oldest surf lifesaving club, on world-famous Bondi Beach in Australia, is scheduled to begin construction next year. Lockhart – Krause Architects’ design celebrates local heritage, using terracotta, wavelike arched forms and a sheltering courtyard, respecting and responding to Bondi’s identity and spirit of place.

The proposal preserves and restores the original 1934 clubhouse in all its glory, with modern lightweight additions highlighting the legacy of the building’s iconic built form. The roof design is sympathetic to the heritage context, with a considered fusion of styles. Here, contemporary detailing balances traditional materiality.  

The renovated first floor uses steel and glass, opening to stunning panoramic ocean views. With its cantilevered roof protecting a new outdoor verandah, this is a place to stand, smell the salt air and watch the sun cast its light over the water.  

The existing heritage building will be adapted into an exciting ‘Surf Museum’, a publicly accessible repository of knowledge, a place for members to be remembered, dedicated to the birthplace of surf life-saving. More than just a landing place for the Club’s history, opening the club in this way is intended to encourage greater interaction with the public.  

Change rooms - the most active space in any surf club - will be retained in the heritage building. With female membership now at 40 per cent, women’s change room facilities will double in size and be equal to the men’s.  

The new building addresses current functional deficiencies critical to the Club’s day-to-day activities. A suite of new amenities includes a ‘Youth Room’ for families, enhanced access for people with disabilities; increased storage for contemporary life-saving equipment; improved frontline ‘Lifesaving’ services with dedicated areas for lifesaving operations and First Aid, along with a gym, offices and education and training spaces. Together, these will allow the Club to continue to protect and support the community in line with contemporary requirements.  

On the lands of the Indigenous Bidjigal, Cadigal and Gadigal people, the landscape remains potent, influencing and shaping the coastal buildings in Bondi. The fluid movement of the ocean, water and waves can be seen in many of the Italianate arches and curved forms of buildings around Bondi. A special pattern of courtyards is also present, unusual for Australia. The buildings responding to the landscape and its strong coastal winds.  

The Lockhart-Krause design respects these unique patterns and includes a publicly accessible courtyard with lightweight concrete arches, supporting the rhythm of the original brick clubhouse. A walkway on the south provides additional protection from strong winds, forming a sensational new public room, open to everyone, alive with movement and activity, a safe place for children, families and the community.  

In a formal gesture to enhanced public and community amenity, the new building will be positioned on the worst part of the site, behind the existing club, improving the site’s best areas. This work will deliver to the community more open and accessible landscape, new seating, showers, bins, drinking fountains, bicycle parking and better lighting. Existing trees will be retained, with established vegetation enhanced by the addition of new indigenous trees and grasses. The new built scheme is subservient, low in height, and integrated with planting, gently receding into the park.  

After a comprehensive consultation process, the project has received overwhelming support from the local Bondi community. The DA ‘Development Application’ for the project has been approved, with construction scheduled to start next year.