East Beach Café is a seafront cafe in
Littlehampton
Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort, and pleasure harbour, and the most populous civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south sout ...
, West Sussex, United Kingdom. It is owned by Jane Wood and Sophie Murray, who commissioned designer
Thomas Heatherwick
Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, (born 17 February 1970) is an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. He works with a team of around 200 architects, designers and makers from a studio and workshop in ...
to create an iconic building for the seaside town of Littlehampton.
Architecture
The cafe was designed by award-winning designer
Thomas Heatherwick
Thomas Alexander Heatherwick, (born 17 February 1970) is an English designer and the founder of London-based design practice Heatherwick Studio. He works with a team of around 200 architects, designers and makers from a studio and workshop in ...
, and was his first building. The unconventional silhouette was designed to protect views from a nearby conservation area while offering sea views for customers.
The structure is long, wide and high, and the side facing inland is windowless. It was built in Littlehampton, with steelwork by Littlehampton Welding ltd and site work by Langridge Developments, another local firm.
The building won a
RIBA
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...
regional prize in 2008, judges describing it as "both strange and captivating; weird but lovable".
In 2009 the
Restaurant and Bar Design Awards
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appear ...
awarded East Beach Cafe winner of the Exterior Space category. East Beach Cafe was awarded Coastal Cafe of the Year by
National Magazine Company
National Magazine Company (or Nat Mags) is a British magazine publisher based in London. It was established in 1910 by William Randolph Hearst and was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hearst Corporation.
Arnaud de Puyfontaine became chief execut ...
's Coast Awards in 2011.
See also
*
List of bakery cafés
This is a list of notable bakery cafés. A bakery (or baker's shop) is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based food baked in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also coffeehouses, ser ...
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.eastbeachcafe.co.uk
Bakery cafés
Buildings and structures in West Sussex
Littlehampton
Coffeehouses and cafés in the United Kingdom