Context

The project brief was to build an iconic beach hut on the coast of Eastbourne in the South of England as part of a regeneration of the seaside town. The project has a footprint of only six square meters and takes its form from an inspiring story from local history.

​The construction is made possible by employing an innovative system of structural nodes  which allow the project to be delivered on a very limited budget. Each bespoke node is made by connecting aluminium rods to simple 3d printed or aluminium hemispheres using Digital Fabrication Tools. Coordinates were exported for each hemisphere which were screwed together to give the pavilions structure. The Corian panels sit on CNC cut timber triangles made rigid by the lightweight structural dome. This project was delivered in collaboration with London based fabricators Cutting Edge UK

Story

The project brief was to build an iconic beach hut on the coast of Eastbourne in the South of England as part of a regeneration of the seaside town. The project has a footprint of only six square meters and takes its form from an inspiring story from local history. The project combines themes in our design research such as identity, technology and collaboration.

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Innovation

​The construction is made possible by employing an innovative system of structural nodes  which allow the project to be delivered on a very limited budget. Each bespoke node is made by connecting aluminium rods to simple 3d printed or aluminium hemispheres using Digital Fabrication Tools. Coordinates were exported for each hemisphere which were screwed together to give the pavilions structure. The Corian panels sit on CNC cut timber triangles made rigid by the lightweight structural dome. This project was delivered in collaboration with London based fabricators Cutting Edge UK

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Light Beacon

The pavilion transforms at night, emitting light through its translucent skin, expressing its structure and providing passive security over the beach. This innvovative use of material earn the project a Surface Award for Lighting Design in 2018.  The jury described the project by saying: "It does a lot with very little, responding to the site and brief in a monumental way but also to the budget in terms of being innovative with materials and structure."

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