Many of you have have been keeping your eye on the covered windows of the old Allen Bros Tyre & Van Hire property on the corner or Albert Road and Victoria Grove in anticipation of the Garage Lounge, Southseas latest coffee joint.
Now let me set the record straight, it’s no coffee shop that’s for sure. If anything it’s a coffee lounge as name suggests. Taking it’s name from the purpose of the previous establishment is the only thing in common it bears. With a very considered decor including vintage furniture, well chosen antiques, fantastic lighting and hand laid original parquet flooring the Garage Lounge has much more to offer than coffee. In fact if it’s non alcoholic they seem to have it. If the simply insane coffee machine isn’t blending away the smoothies and juices are literally flowing.
I was fortunate enough to get an invite (thanks Callum) on their opening night and was amazed by the shear effort that has gone in to creating this unique new venue on Albert Road.
It may not be to everyones taste as a ‘hang out’, but for myself I’m stoked to see someone going the extra mile and once again adding to the the whole buzz of Albert Road. It also means me and Paul may have the odd meeting that’s not in a pub…..
Edit: You can find The Garage Lounge over on Facebook HERE.
Walk past this place after weeks of wondering what would be at the result of all the work, looks absolutely beautiful. Me and my uni friends are thinking our next group meeting should involve this place.
Three visits in one week. What a refresing change. Great decor, fantastic atmosphere and no alcohol a refreshing change in an area which is saturated with alcohol outlets. Just hope the owners manage to maintain the unique and classy nature of this venue.
Good luck!
We wanted a quiet drink before going to see Chicago but ended up leaving the pub because of loud drunken “Irish” blokes (as in they were sneezed on by an Irish man ten years ago which qualifies them to celebrate St. Patricks Day) When we stumbled across The Garage Lounge, what a brilliant place.
We always said that there was a gap in the market, sometimes you just want a coffee or tea in the evening and didn’t want to sit in a pub surrounded by piss heads.
Great tea, coffee and cakes, we’ll be heading straight there next time we’re in Southsea. We wish the owners every success.
i love the decor and the amazing atmospere of the place! Coffee and cakes are great too! lovely to be able to have a nice evening and not having to be in a loud pub! good luck!!!
[...] The Garage Lounge The Garage Lounge rose, like a phoenix, from the ashes of a defunct tire shop. It’s arrival and popularity (especially considering it doesn’t sell booze) has taken Pompey somewhat by surprise. “Yummy mummy and hipster Earl Grey drinking cyclist central” is what my brother calls it but don’t let that put you off. The decor is an opulent mix of victorian bordello chic and mid-century design. For a coffee/tea/cake/lunch venue it is refreshingly devoid of twee. Owned by a Soho architect (and it shows) this tearoom is easily one of the most elegant on the south coast, if not the whole country, and I hear rumours of a second one in the pipeline. [...]
My first visit was at the weekend I was very disappointed to see no energy save bulbs fitted to the light fittings and the use of old retro lights which look good but have not be rewired still using two wires these will not pass a pac test.
The staff seem to have trouble finding you once your order is ready may be a simple table number would help.
This year we have changed the way we are compiling our 2014 calendar. Instead we are inviting entries of all themes all year round.
We will dedicate at least two of the months for images taken on Instagram. If you’ve taken a photo that you’d like to submit for consideration you just need add the hashtag #SIC2014.
We will still primarily be accepting submissions via email calendar@strong-island.co.uk.
This year the calendars will be available from mid November from the Strong Island online store and Southsea Gallery. I’d also ask that you keep 14th November free from 7pm, we’ll announce why in late July.
This year we will again be supporting the Alzheimer’s Society as well as another local charity which we will be announcing very very soon!
Strong Island & Strong Island Recordings are very proud to present our 2nd year at one of the premier new music festivals, Southsea Fest and we are also very proud to be the first stage announcing this year too. We follow up from last year’s ‘Drunken Sailor’ event where queues of one in one out were formed within the opening 15 minutes of the stage starting and where our infamous stage was known for sweat dripping from the walls and ceiling while rabid mosh pits brewed…all in the early afternoon.
This year we have upgraded venues to just across the road with the upstairs of the Southsea Social Club where we have a few new ideas planned for the day while ensuring the same chaos and vibe from our label parties resume. To celebrate what will be Strong Island Recordings’ 1st birthday we like to think we have pushed the boat out this year with a heavy line up ranging from grunge, surf punk, noise pop to space math rock.
So we are really stoked to present the following who will be playing our 1st drunken, messy birthday bash:
Arrows of Love
The Black Tambourines
Slowcoaches
The Physics House Band
PLaylounge
Yoofs
Tyrannosaurus Dead
Battery Hens
Cycle Schmeichel
Ricky Fitts
Perch
You’re All Smiling But We’ll All Turn Into Demons
A Spotify playlist of some of the acts can be listened to HERE.
We are stoked, as always, to be working once again with local artist My Dog Sighs on what is set to be one of the largest mural paintings in the city.
Rick from Head Hairdressing on Albert Road conceived the idea of having the courtyard to the rear of the local barbers transformed in to a permanent giant art piece. From precision multilayered stencils, through bubble gum cutsie to surreal illustrative mayhem, My Dog Sighs has hand picked his favourite artists from across the country to produce the ultimate street art dreamscape courtyard.
Head Jam will run all day so feel free to pop along, take a look, have a chat, hang out, meet the artists and enjoy the atmosphere. There will be music on all day, a BBQ turning over in the background if you want to stick a burger on (not supplied), and please feel free to bring along a beer too. Everyone is welcome, so bring the kids so they can see some of the countries finest street artists working together in this unique environment.
As you are probably well aware from reading the news recently, the Portsmouth Supporters Trust succeeded in their bid to take control of Portsmouth FC making it the biggest community owned club in the UK. It is a long and hard fought victory by the fans that have endured years of bad fortune, bad news and bad performances and a couple of the SI crew have seen most of them! PST’s aim is to bring about responsible, democratic representation at Portsmouth Football Club and so help promote the highest standards of transparent governance, accountability and embed Portsmouth FC deeper into its community through greater communication and co-operation with its fans.
We contacted the PST back in November last year to put forward our idea of doing a Strong Island PFC edition T-shirt to raise money towards buying a share in the club. The PST warmly welcomed the idea and we are pleased to say we are now putting our plan into action.
Strong Island is keen to get behind the trust as are many others. We’re going to pledge £5 of every limited edition SI X PFC tee sold towards Strong Island buying a share of the football club, therefore financially helping PFC in it’s aim to become stable again and continue to be a hugely important aspect of the city.
The design itself is a re-imagining of the common elements from the iconic Portsmouth FC logo from the 1980s and the Strong Island logo, with two swords in place, each dated with the club’s FA Cup wins. The Strong Island Clothing Co. items are normally hand screened in East London but for this particular tee they are produced literally just down the road from Fratton Park and will be at a special price of £15 (plus P&P).
No matter if you are passionate about football or not, we hope this tee is a way of showing support for a club that is now a beacon to the rest of the country for a city and a community that strives to work together for the better.
To pre-order the t-shirt click on the link below. Tees will be back from the printers soon and we hope to have orders in the post by the end of the month, if not sooner.
We are very proud to announce The Creating Balance Project, a new, collaborative project between Anglepoise, Strong Island & the University of Portsmouth to celebrate a design classic and local creativity in Portsmouth. The project aims to showcase the working studios and disciplines of artists and designers across the island and connect them to local photographers to capture, document and collaborate.
Anglepoise lamps have been given to each of the 10 participating artists/designers and the 10 photographers involved have used the lamps to light the photographs, give a sense of place and document the artist, where they work & how they create. During the collaboration sessions University of Portsmouth BSc TV and Broadcast students Massimo Marzullo and Jonas Jakunas have been documenting the project, producing short films for each collaboration.
Later this summer key images from each photographer will be printed and displayed with the films, lamps, photos and more in an exhibition in Portsmouth and one in London (TBA).
The collaborations are:
Andrew Whyte & Peter Clutterbuck
Matt Sills & Lorna Apps-Woodland
Paul Gonella & Tristan Savage
Russell Squires & Farkfk
Josh Knill & I Love Dust
Thor Haley & William Pounds
Rob Luckins & Roo + Barry Abrook
Cotton Candy & Neal Layton + Sadie Tierney
Matt Saxey & Deer Park Alpha
My Dog Sighs & Jack Daly
The project is progressing over the next couple of months and already two films are finished and many collaborations complete. Below are the completed collaboration films and we will be posting updates on The Creating Balance Project regularly here on Strong Island. To keep up to date with the project also please check the Creating Balance website where you can see loads of photos from behind the scenes of the collaborations.
It’s been a while (apologies) but the Strong Island Clothing Co. spring 2013 capsule drop is now available and online in the Strong Island Shop Ahoy store! The drop includes some brand new Branded tee colourways, a new grey crew (highest quality, carefully selected and sourced) and a collection of accessories including new beanies, our seriously high quality Branded iPhone cases (4 & 5) from Etch and our hand crafted, leather coin pouch collaboration with Raw & Auburn.
To kick this capsule drop off right we visited the home of Portsmouth’s Eberhardt signwriters and neon sign specialists. Eberhardt are a true creative business gem of the city with a very long history and still produce hand crafted, carefully designed neon signs, a rare and special craft these days. Check the photos below and the behind the scenes edit too to see more. Photography principally by Jack Daly.
gosh the mystery is now explained. Paul and I are meeting there next week and I might pop in tomorrow for a look.
claire on March 8th, 2012Walk past this place after weeks of wondering what would be at the result of all the work, looks absolutely beautiful. Me and my uni friends are thinking our next group meeting should involve this place.
Billie Cawte on March 9th, 2012Three visits in one week. What a refresing change. Great decor, fantastic atmosphere and no alcohol a refreshing change in an area which is saturated with alcohol outlets. Just hope the owners manage to maintain the unique and classy nature of this venue.
Sue on March 11th, 2012Good luck!
No booze? No thankyou!
Gareth C on March 13th, 2012Went in on Friday evening after a couple of drinks, made a nice change to have an alternative to the usual routine.
Great atmosphere, and the owners were very friendly and we stayed until closing time. Brilliant addition to Albert Road
Nathan on March 13th, 2012We wanted a quiet drink before going to see Chicago but ended up leaving the pub because of loud drunken “Irish” blokes (as in they were sneezed on by an Irish man ten years ago which qualifies them to celebrate St. Patricks Day) When we stumbled across The Garage Lounge, what a brilliant place.
Brian on March 18th, 2012We always said that there was a gap in the market, sometimes you just want a coffee or tea in the evening and didn’t want to sit in a pub surrounded by piss heads.
Great tea, coffee and cakes, we’ll be heading straight there next time we’re in Southsea. We wish the owners every success.
My friend works there. I relly need a job and its soo nice there I would love to work at the garage lounge!
Fifi on March 25th, 2012i love the decor and the amazing atmospere of the place! Coffee and cakes are great too! lovely to be able to have a nice evening and not having to be in a loud pub! good luck!!!
Angeliki on March 29th, 2012Looks and sounds wonderful. Definitely on my to do list now.
D.J. Kirkby on April 21st, 2012Great breakfast,coffee and atmosphere. Will try lunch next time.
Roger de Vere on May 4th, 2012wow, what a great place, was introduced last weekend – will be bring all my friends here. Fabulous food, atmosphere and staff. What a winner!
Bev on August 21st, 2012[...] The Garage Lounge The Garage Lounge rose, like a phoenix, from the ashes of a defunct tire shop. It’s arrival and popularity (especially considering it doesn’t sell booze) has taken Pompey somewhat by surprise. “Yummy mummy and hipster Earl Grey drinking cyclist central” is what my brother calls it but don’t let that put you off. The decor is an opulent mix of victorian bordello chic and mid-century design. For a coffee/tea/cake/lunch venue it is refreshingly devoid of twee. Owned by a Soho architect (and it shows) this tearoom is easily one of the most elegant on the south coast, if not the whole country, and I hear rumours of a second one in the pipeline. [...]
Naomi Thompson: Going Local – An Outsiders’ Insider Guide to Portsmouth | Country Talk Forum on September 15th, 2012My first visit was at the weekend I was very disappointed to see no energy save bulbs fitted to the light fittings and the use of old retro lights which look good but have not be rewired still using two wires these will not pass a pac test.
Mr King on November 4th, 2012The staff seem to have trouble finding you once your order is ready may be a simple table number would help.
Cool story bro
Gareth on November 4th, 2012I can’t help but think of The Modern Parents strip in The Viz.
Charlie on November 4th, 2012