Beach shelter wins international design award

Designed by London-based architects Flanagan Lawrence and structural engineers Expedition, the shelter won the Award for Small Projects at The Structural Awards 2015, restricted to constructions costing under £2-million. The curvaceous structure comprises two concrete spray shells which offer shelter for beach-goers and an acoustic space for performers. Resembling the rolling sand dunes of neighbouring West Beach, it was commissioned following a competition organised by Arun District Council in 2012. Judges were full of praise for the shelter’s ‘simplicity and skilled craftsmanship’. They said: “(we) greatly admired the way in which value for money has been delivered to great effect through the structural engineers’ creative thinking and confidence in eschewing complex techniques. “The wave-like form follows the acoustic function beautifully, and allowing gravity to pull the draped mesh of reinforcement into shape, then using a hand-applied render to freeze it in position, is masterful.” Unveiled in 2014, the shelter joins Littlehampton’s growing collection of architectural gems, including Thomas Heatherwick’s East Beach Café, Asif Khan’s West Beach Café and the Longest Bench. Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage 2) Like our Facebook page 3) Follow us on Twitter 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! Always the first with your local news. Be part of it.