The De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea

The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea, East Sussex was officially opened on 12th December 1935 by the Duke and Duchess of York (the future King George VI and Queen Elizabeth). It had been commissioned by Herbrand Sackville, the 9th Earl De La Warr, who despite his title was an ardent socialist and the mayor of the town.  He wanted a new building to include public entertainment and education facilities, and a competition was announced in the February 1934 edition of the Architects Journal, calling for entries. Over 230 were received with Thomas Tait of Burnet, Tait and Lorne acting as the assessor. 

Plan of the ground floor of the De La Warr Pavilion

The winning design was produced by Serge Chermayeff and Erich Mendelsohn, during their brief partnership in Britain. Chermayeff was born in Grozny, before his family moved to Britain and he was sent to attendHarrow School. After completing his further education in various European countries, Chermayeff worked as a journalist and a designer, and then trained as an architect. Mendelsohn was one of the most prominent figures in European modernist design in the first decades of the 20th century, producing designs throughout Germany and also in the Soviet Union. He fled Nazi Germany for Britain in 1933, and went into partnership with Chermayeff. ​

The staircase and hanging light feature, as seen from below. Image from RIBApix.

The design the pair produced is one of the finest International Modernist buildings in Britain. It caused somewhat of a scandal when it was chosen by Tait, with a public enquiry called to examine how such a brazenly modernist scheme was chosen. But it was built, with only a few modifications, a vision of the future among the Edwardian townscape of Bexhill.

The auditorium. Image from RIBApix.

It consists of a two section building, joined in the middle by curved, projecting glazed staircases. The western half contains an assembly hall, with the eastern half originally housing a dance floor, library, conference hall, restaurant and a terrace area, spread out over two floors. The interior also features furniture designed by Alvar Aalto and a mural by Edward Wadsworth. The structure of the building consists of a welded steel frame, overseen by engineer Felix Samuely, with the concrete walls covered in smooth white render. The south staircase was designed with a long hanging pendulum light, designed by Chermayeff, (although reminiscent of Mendelsohn’s Trade Union Building in Berlin).

The sun terrace. Image from RIBApix.

Despite the public enquiry, the building was well received in the architectural press of the time and later. In the Buildings of England volume for Sussex, Ian Nairn called it “exhilarating”. Unfortunately the building was somewhat neglected and had fallen into disrepair by the 1970. In 1986 it was given Grade I listing, a high honour for a 20th century building, and a couple of years later a trust was formed to protect and renovate the pavilion. Over a decade later the Heritage Lottery Fund granted £6 million for its restoration and modernisation, reopening as an arts centre in 2005. A further £17 million has just been budgeted for further upgrades, including refurbishing the auditorium and upgrades for the 21st century.