Hastings Pier

When fire tore through the Pier in 2010, many of the residents wept at the loss of a much-loved ‘daughter’ of the town.

But thanks to the resolve of the Hastings Pier Charity, working with Hastings Borough Council and English Heritage, funding was secured to rebuild the landmark structure.

Our approach was to develop the project with the people of Hastings through a series of participation events and workshops. We discovered a community that was individualistic and eclectic but with a proud shared identity embodied in the pier.

The new pier can support endless uses, from big-top circus to major music events, local fishing to international markets.

Funding of £12.6 million, mostly made up of an £11.4 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund funded below deck repairs and replaced the deck and balustrades. It also facilitated two buildings: the existing Victorian Pavilion which we transformed into an open-plan, fully-glazed restaurant, and the new visitor centre.

Replacing the weakest central section of the damaged pier, the visitor centre offers adaptable space for events, exhibitions and education, with an elevated rooftop belvedere. Reclaimed timber deck furniture was designed by us and Hastings & Bexhill Wood Recycling as part of a local employment initiative.

The experience of free space and ‘walking on water’ is heightened by the optics of a louvred balustrade design and quality timber deck.

In 2017 the project won the Stirling Prize, but in a twist typical of the turbulent history of piers, the Hastings Pier Charity went into administration. In 2018 it was sold to a local businessman. Despite fears by us and the local community that the introduction of golden hippos and slot machines would diminish its social function, the new pier still stands as a catalyst for urban regeneration. It offers flexibility, material and functional sustainability and uninterrupted vistas out to sea and of a unique seaside town.