Port Phillip Council approves designs for new Stokehouse restaurant

UPDATE: THE design for the new Stokehouse restaurant has been approved, with Port Phillip Council reviewing rebuilding plans after the eatery burnt down in January.

The original Sotkehouse.

THE design for a new look Stokehouse restaurant has been signed off by Port Phillip Council.

Plans for the proposed beachside building, destroyed in a blaze in January, will now go to Planning Minister Matthew Guy for approval.

If approved, construction of the culinary mecca at 30 Jacka Boulevard on the St Kilda foreshore could begin as early as September.

Plans for the new Stokehouse show it will be 2.91m higher than the original to protect against flood damage and sea level rise.

Port Phillip mayor Amanda Stevens said it would be modern and boast accessible and sustainable design elements.

New plans for the Stokehouse after the original restaurant burned down in January.

MORE: OWNER VOWS TO RETURN STOKEHOUSE TO GLORY

The original Sotkehouse.

About 200 diners were evacuated when a fire started in the kitchen about 11pm on January 17 and quickly engulfed the building.

Twitter lit up with shocked messages and condolences from across the country.

Hundreds of food-lovers had flocked to the culinary palace every week since it opened in the 1920s.

Present owners Frank and Sharon Van Haandel said they were devastated at the time but despite the challenges the couple vowed to rebuild.

In February, Port Phillip Council launched a design project for a new Stokehouse with the Van Haandels agreeing to take community feedback.

The public made hundreds of recommendations including better water use, efficiency and encouraging a classic but modern look.

The comments were passed on to architectural firm Robert Simeoni Pty Ltd, which created the latest design to be submitted for approval.

A marquee-style “pop-up” restaurant was built in place of the Stokehouse restaurant while the planning process was carried out.

An excavator clears remnants of the original restaurant after the January fire. Picture: Mark Stewart