East Beach Cafe: Unusual Roof Complete with Metal Waves

- Thursday, September 20th 2012.

East Beach Café by Thomas Heatherwick in unusual café design. Shaped like a vast piece of driftwood, washed-up on the shore, the rusted metal shell undulates in sections, like rings of wood that have been smoothed by the sea. The shell of the building is both its skin and the structure. It comprises a steel outer layer which is cut into a series of vertical slices.The scale and material of the structure combined with its unique shape and setting, makes for an extraordinary contrast of organic and industrial, natural and manmade. The complex contours of the rear of the building have a powerful sculptural quality, the intensity of detail and shadow changing with every nuance of light and sun.

Want another unique house design updated daily? Just subscribe us here

The East Beach Cafe, situated in the small seaside town of Littlehampton, The design was led by the roller shutters that the building would need to protect its windows. The slim footprint was developed from the constraints of the public promenade at the front and a pressurised underground service pipe at the rear which could not be built over. Simply designed with curved wooden furniture and spacious seating for sixty, the priority has been to keep the focus on the seaside view.

The building is sliced diagonally into ribbons which wrap up and over the building, forming a layered protective shell, open to the sea in front. Decking on the beach allows diners to eat outdoors, with a clear screen offering protection from the wind. Windows stretch the full lengths of the café space providing splendid views over the shingle and sand beach to the sea. The exposed location demanded a design that could weather constant battering by the elements, with the high salt content in the air speeding up the natural degradation of the building materials. There you go FHD Lovers another fancy design for your influence!