Brighton West Pier was built from March 1864 to October 1866 by Messrs Laidlaw & Sons, Glasgow, following plans by the pre-eminent pier architect Eugenius Birch, a man also responsible for piers at Blackpool, Eastbourne, and Weston-super-Mare. Completed a at a cost of £21,890, the pier was opened on 6th October 1866.
Brighton West Pier was originally constructed as a promenade space, where paying visitors could walk along the near 100,000 square feet of decking - on what to all intents and purposes was firm ground - and take in the sea air which the Victorian's believed possessed health-benefiting properties, and to enjoy unprecedented views of the surrounding area.
The West Pier is one of Britain's two Grade I listed piers, acquiring that status in 1982. She had previously secured Grade II listed status in October 1969. Historically she represents a bygone era of seaside holidays, relaxation, and entertainment never to return. Her social and cultural significance to Brighton and Hove, East Sussex and Britain should not be underestimated.
She is now a shell - reduced to that state by arson, vandalism and neglect - she remains a poignant reminder of the British seaside pier. However, her future is more uncertain now than at any time in the past, and is virtually lost. A golden opportunity existed for the heritage bodies of this country - specifically the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage - to save one of the most important pieces of architecture in the country, but they failed. Their failure, and the deliberate stalling tactics of the Noble Group, owners of the Palace Pier is indicative of a flawed planning system which allows architectural treasures to be lost. At the turn of the century there were around ninety piers in the country, now only forty exist, the rest have been lost. That statistic speaks for itself.
Quietly and "nobly" the West Pier remains standing, defiant to the last.
The De La Warr Pavilion originated in the 1930s when the mayor of the Bexhill-on-Sea, Earl De La Warr, decided upon a competition to design an arts and entertainment amenity for the town; the competition rules stipulated that a budget of £80,000 be allowed for the construction of a new pavilion for the town.
Aesthetically, the design of the pavilion stands out as an excellent example of the Modern Movement. In general terms, buildings of this type exhibit geometric lines and windows and doors arranged in a regular, ordered pattern. They often feature large glass areas affording the building a light, airy feel; flat roofs; and cantilevered structures and balconies. In terms of decoration, they are unornamented and painted white.
The De La Warr Pavilion is mentioned in Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method and is noted for its "distinctly Continental and progressive air. The long body of the hall, its sheer white walls perfectly plain apart from a circular, decorative inscription, forms a striking contrast with the semicircular bay busy in interest with its tiers of balconies and translucent walls through which the convolutions of the ascending staircase can be seen."
The future for the De La Warr Pavilion is secure. An £8 million restoration programme - assisted by the De La Warr Pavilion Charitable Trust, the Arts Council England, the local Rother District Council, and many other corporate and individual supporters - has preserved the pavilion in this new millennium.
Now re-opened to the public, with its theatre, art gallery, and restaurant the De La Warr Pavilion demonstrates the enduring vision of Earl De La Warr and genius of Eric Mendlesohn and Serge Chermayeff by providing Bexhill-on-Sea with a wonderful people's palace by the sea.