A group of us went to the event Shifting Sands held in Littlehampton.  This was a series of lectures on the design and changing image of seaside towns looking at the regeneration

The highlight of the event was the talk done by Thomas Heatherwick.  He talked about the design of the East Beach Café which the Heatherwick Studio designed.  The design of the café is to become a popular attraction and a place that could be opened up all year round. 

The café is located on the seafront offering good views of the sea.  The café design moved away from the stereotypical seaside building with shells and buckets painted on the facades.  The shell of the building is a series of undulating vertical slices cut out from steel.  The café also has a decked area on the top of the beach offering a place to eat outside. 

I really liked the design of the building and how it evolved.  I can see the café becoming a popular attraction and a reason to visit Littlehampton.  I also like the choice of the materials of the steel.  It will age and decay within the environment of the seaside location giving its unique character.  I also like the fact that the steel shell was constructed offsite by local welding experts which gives the project a more community based outcome.

Other talks during the day were about the Brighton tower that is to be built.  The tower is to become an attraction to Brighton, very similar to that of the Spinnaker tower in Portsmouth.  The team that designed the London Eye have designed the tower.  It will sit near the seafront in line with the old pier.  I didn’t like this design; it won’t show the character of Brighton and will become a place of little significance to the area as it could be located anywhere in the world. 

Over the course of the day the talks also went over the history of the tourism to the seaside and how the focus has shifted and that British seaside towns are battling against the cheep package holidays abroad to places like Spain.  Overall the day was good.  It was interesting to see the different presentations and views of the how to get people back to spending money in coastal resorts.