De La Warr Pavilion (Bexhill)
The De La Warr Pavilion is an iconic modernist seaside building at Bexhill in Sussex.
It was the result of a competition organised by the Socialist Mayor of Bexhill, Earl De La Warr, for a public building in the 1930s art deco style. The Earl put up £100,000 for its construction.
The competition attracted 230 entries, and the architects chosen were Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayoff, formerly of the Bauhaus. The welded steel framed Pavilion was completed in 1936.
Unfortunately, at the time the architecture was not universally admired, but Bexhill acquired an outstanding building with facilities for a repertory theatre, tea dances, restaurant and reading room. The balconies still offer afternoon tea.
John McAslan and Partners completed a restoration in 2005.