Beach House

This building is a recent addition to a row of beach houses in Lee-Over-Sands, a remote hamlet community near Clacton-on-Sea. Sitting within a 683 acre nature reserve and flood zone, the land was originally purchased in 1934 to be developed as one of the ‘plotlands’ of North Essex. 

The brief from our clients; two prominent British artists, called for a simple, refined holiday retreat and studio with two bedrooms, a bathroom and generous living space. Our scheme also included a large low level storage area for leisure equipment and a sheltered terrace to take in the expansive sea views. 

The starting point for the design was the local bungalow archetype. This beach house sits within the previous footprint and maintains the local building lines, whilst innovating the internal structure and use of cladding materials.  Due to the exposed site conditions the external shell of the building required careful material consideration. 

The internal structural steels rise from an elevated concrete plinth designed to protect the living spaces from high flood water levels. The steelwork generally allows the structure above ground to appear light, and provides strength to create generous openings and spans. A cladding of corrugated aluminium withstands the harsh weather and resists the heavy salt content of the air. The seaward-facing elevation is open to expansive views and features full height sliding aluminium doors, with stepped access down to the sand.