Next Wave : Shelter & Kiosk – New Open Design Competition
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 organized 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 program 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 centered 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”.
The deadline for stage one design submissions is Wednesday, August 12, 2009.
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