Modern new beach hut on Eastbourne seafront

The first of five brand new beach huts is being been unveiled on Eastbourne beach tomorrow (Wednesday) following an international architectural design competition.
The new beach hut on Eastbourne beachThe new beach hut on Eastbourne beach
The new beach hut on Eastbourne beach

The beach hut, which is named ‘What unearthed?’ is a little different from the traditional colourful huts on seaside postcards.

Margaret Bannister, councillor for tourism and enterprise, said, “We are delighted to see the first beach hut take shape.

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“As well as offering a unique beach hut hire experience the new hut also offers plenty of potential for events over the coming months.”

Created by award-winning Irish architect Stephen Foley and built by Kevin Hoy of Cutting Edge UK, the hut to the east of the town’s pier is far from traditional.

Architect Stephen Foley said, “We loved working on this project because it combines a lot of themes such as identity, technology and collaboration.”

The competition, whose five winners were announced in March last year, asked entrants to design new iconic seafront landmarks which will be available to hire.

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Designers say the hut was inspired by recent archaeological discoveries in Eastbourne such as the Beachy Head lady.

The Huts design competition was part of the Driving Devonshire Forward initiative and funded by the Coastal Communities Fund.

Its aim was to enhance Eastbourne’s reputation in embracing culture and design and help with the regeneration of the area.

Judges included architect Jane Montague and ground-breaking artist and sculptor Alex Chinneck.

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The winning design which now sits east of the town’s pier on the beach opposite Seahouses Square is described as offering a light and airy space by day and a ghost-like illumination at night.

Mr Foley said, “We worked closely with the fabricators in order to make it as special as possible and had input from Heritage Eastbourne during the build.”

Eastbourne Council’s tourism department say the bespoke beach hut will offer pop-up events as well as being available for hire.

Cllr Bannister added, “The beach huts will create some key landmarks on the Coastal Culture Trail which runs between Eastbourne and Hastings.”

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There will also be a competition giving residents and visitors the chance to win a day’s hire of the unique space.

A second beach hut from the design competition is due to be installed in September.

To win a free day in the new Beach Hut visit www.visiteastbourne.com/win and enter online by August 11.