Seaside Kiosk: Bexhill-On-Sea

Four new seafront shelters and a kiosk will be a flagship element of East Sussex based Rother District Council's Next Wave project, a wider £5 million seafront regeneration programme that has received £1 million of funding from the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE). K2 architects were selected as one of ten finalists from 150 entries in an RIBA led design competition to explore new ideas and forms for seaside architecture.

The Kiosk is designed to be read as an abstract representation of the British seaside holiday. The kiosk makes reference to the elements of weather in its shape and form in the same way as the shelter does, but has a greater emphasis on the playful nature of seaside life. By day the beach kiosk is the fulcrum of most children’s idea of a day out on the beach. It is a treasure trove of all sorts of weird and wonderful things unique to seaside playtime such as inflatable objects, stripy ice lollies and pink candy floss. The design represents these strange objects giving clues as to what delights the kiosk might yield. At night the kiosk lights up to become a focus of evening activity along the promenade extending its operating potential into the evening.