Hastings Pier, dRMM Architects Studio

In 2016, dRMM Architects Studio, based in the UK and Berlin, closed due to storm damage in 2008 and damage by fire in 2010, but it was reconfigured into a sustainable and flexible platform that can accommodate a wide range of community and commercial uses. Hastings Pier won the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2017, the UK's top architectural award.

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Hastings Pier served as a platform where people can gather. When fire destroyed the Pier in 2010, it was a drastic loss for the community. However, the Hastings Pire Charity, together with Hastings Borough Council and English Heritage, succeeded in securing the funds needed to rebuild the pier.

dRMM Architects Studio developed the project into seven years of collaboration with local residents. Through a series of participatory events and workshops, they have defined the role that the piers will play in the 21st century. The new pier has a wide range of uses, from large circuses to large-scale music events, from local fisheries to international markets.

A Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant enabled extensive foundation and structural repairs covering fire, sea and storm damage (£9M). Further funding (£2.5M) facilitated two buildings, the first of which, the remaining derelict Victorian Pavilion, was transformed into an open-plan, fully-glazed restaurant. dRMM were responsible for the exterior shell and cores; the interior fit-out was by the tenant.

Building with Reclaimed Timber

The Victorian pavilion, the only permanent building here, has been converted into an open-plan, all-glass restaurant, on top of which is a new visitor centre. Set above a renewed central section of the damaged pier, the visitor centre is a cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure, clad with scorched timber boards reclaimed from the remains of the original deck.

“On site, we noticed tropical hardwood pieces in the charred remains rescued from the fire-damaged pier. Even at over 100 years old, these random lengths of high-quality, dense timber still had potential. The longer pieces were split to create slim profiles, cladding the toilets and outbuildings of the Old Pavilion. For the visitor centre, we designed a façade that deliberately used short lengths of wood, maximising the amount we could recycle. The result is a chevron cladding pattern that makes a virtue out of the unwanted to create an optical illusion and sense of movement.”

This goes beyond just reuse, the charred cladding adds character and character to the building, making the history of the pier visible and remembered by all.

The reclaimed timber boards were also used to create new external seating and furniture, designed by dRMM and Hastings & Bexhill Wood Recycling and manufactured as part of a local employment initiative.