Flanagan Lawrence for Littlehampton Town Council
Contract value: £100,000
GIA: 1136m2
Small Project of the Year
This is a little project with large appeal. Commissioned by the local council on a limited budget, the architect has taken the concept of a bandstand by the sea and contextualised it by contemporary design and construction (concrete sprayed direct onto reinforcement mesh). The result is a pair of elegant white concrete shells. One features a bench and faces the sea, luring you in to hear the amplified sound of waves.
This certainly is a romantic spot to sit, listen, and reflect. The other, larger shell faces inland as an acoustically engineered stage for a small performance. Careful research modelling had revealed the most efficient shape of the shell to provide the best acoustic experience for a small audience without disturbing the adjacent houses. The curved, seductive shape of the shells will no doubt become an icon of the area, and demonstrates a design excellence of which Littlehampton should be very proud.