Bexhill-on-Sea Shelter Competition, Winner, Image, English Building, Project, Architecture, News

Bexhill-on-Sea Shelter & Kiosk Competition UK

RIBA Design Contest, East Sussex, southeast England, UK, Europe

post updated 23 Mar 2021 ; 3 Dec 2009

Bexhill-on-Sea Shelter

Winner of Next Wave Shelters & Kiosk Competition

Young London architects Michael Tite and Tom Ebdon have won the competition for the design of a new series of seafront structures for the seaside resort of Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex.

Tite & Ebdon’s design, one of ten shortlisted from over 140 anonymous entries, was praised by the jury on both an aesthetic and functional level. The intimate ‘Y’ shaped seating plan of the shelter echoes the warmth of nestling in behind a windbreak whilst allowing people to people to enjoy the views from all directions.

Chair of the Jury Panel Niall McLaughlin said : “The challenge here is to design shelters that keep out driving rain and gales on an exposed waterfront while creating a lively presence on the promenade. The winning scheme allowed its form to emerge from the requirement for shelter, providing a beautiful scheme that is best captured with a lovely view from a sheltered seat out to the horizon”.

The new structures, with a total construction value of around £220,000, will comprise 4 seafront shelters and a kiosk, and will be a flagship element of the Council’s Next Wave Seafront Improvement Project, a wider £5 million cultural regeneration programme that has received £1 million of funding from CABE under the SeaChange Programme.

The scheme is now awaiting approval from Rother District Council, the client, to commission and take forward the designs. If commissioned, Michael Tite and Tom Ebdon will work closely over the coming months with the client group to refine and work up the detail of their design concepts.

Next Wave : Shelter & Kiosk – New Open Design Competition

3 Jul 2009

This new competition seeks designs for a new series of seafront structures for the seaside resort of Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex. The competition is being organised by the RIBA Competitions Office on behalf of Rother District Council.

The new structures, with a total construction value of £220,000, comprising 4 seafront shelters and a kiosk, are a flagship element of the Council’s Next Wave Seafront Improvement Project, a wider £5 million cultural regeneration programme that has received £1 million of funding from CABE under the SeaChange Programme. The project consists of a series of public realm improvements and construction projects centred on a core area of Bexhill’s seafront, in the vicinity of the modernist icon that is the De La Warr Pavilion.

It is the expectation that a high quality design solution for the new structures will help deliver the regenerative and place-making objectives of the Next Wave Project, creating architecture which will add to the experience of visiting Bexhill’s seafront. Architects with exceptional designs skills are therefore encouraged to take part in the competition and respond to this exciting architectural challenge.

The Jury Panel, which will include architect Niall McLaughlin will be looking for designs which combine innovation and creativity with realism and functionality. The successful design should lift the spirits, and help define Bexhill’s unique identity, and of which the town can be truly proud.

Niall McLaughlin said : “The Bexhill competition offers practices the opportunity to make innovative architecture in a special seafront setting. The relationship to the sea and the long promenade is very interesting. The proximity of the De La Warr Pavilion gives the project a special importance. Our bandstand was an RIBA Competition winner ten years ago and, although tiny, it allowed us to think experimentally about architecture in a way not always afforded by bigger projects”.

To view and download the brief visit www.architecture.com/competitions. The deadline for stage one design submissions is Wednesday 12th August 2009.

Bexhill-on-Sea Shelter & Kiosk Competition information from the RIBA 030709

Location: Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, England, UK