£3m cultural centre craned into place on Southend Pier
Southend Pier in Essex has a new 350 sq m cultural centre designed by Swedish practice White Arkitekter and London-based architecture practice Sprunt.
The design, called Sculpted by Wind and Wave, was the winning entry in a £3m international competition in 2009, which attracted 73 international and British entries. At the end of the mile-long pier, it has sloping walls and a twisting hyperbolic paraboloid (double curved) roof.
The roof and wall panels are built of insulated timber panels covered with a waterproof membrane. The walls are clad with fibreglass panels and the roof is treated with a non-slip textured top coat which is colour-matched to the fibreglass walls to give the building a unified look.
It will house a large multipurpose hall with floor-to-ceiling glazed elevations looking on to the Thames Estuary.
The 170-tonne structure was made off site and was transported by barge before being lifted into place at the pier head by a 400-tonne crane.
white.dk; sprunt.net
