The Seagull & The Windbreak

The UK’s first beach huts (four) for people with disabilities at Boscombe for Bournemouth Borough Council. Construction costs £115,000. Completed 2011. RIBA Stages 0-7

In June 2009 Bournemouth Borough Council launched a CABE backed International Competition to design and build innovative new beach huts as part of the Boscombe Sea Change Regeneration Scheme and to deliver the UK's only purpose-designed accessible beach facilities. Professional artists, architects and designers were invited to submit bold and dramatic concepts to reinvent a row of beach huts specifically for disabled beach users. Collaborations between artists and other design professionals were particularly encouraged - we teamed up with local artist Peter Lewis.

The beach huts are provided for day time use only and largely on a casual daily hire basis. They may be used at any time during the year but are most frequently occupied between May and September, on school holidays and weekends outside of this, dependent on weather.

The judging panel were looking for concepts with strong aesthetic appeal when in use and when locked up.

‘The Seagull and the Windbreak’ addressed this by drawing on the traditional seaside imagery of a 'line drawn' seagull and multi coloured stripes of the traditional windbreak. The beach huts were constructed off site (modular construction) in Eastbourne and delivered and placed in one day.