Riverside Wharf

West Beach Cafe

East Beach Cafe

We have been reading about Jane Wood‘s role in transforming Littlehampton, in West Sussex, through cutting-edge modern architecture and design. Around ten years ago Wood bought a former kiosk and hired the then-little-known Thomas Heathwerwick to transform it, resulting in the East Beach Cafe, Heatherwick’s first UK building. Wood also commissioned Asif Khan, the designer of the Winter Olympics MegaFon installation, to execute Littlehampton’s West Beach Cafe.

More recently, she commissioned award-winning architect John Pardey to develop a collection of modern coastal houses in Littlehampton, Riverside Wharf. The timber-clad, four-bedroom houses rise out of a block of brick and flint warehouses, and feature saw-toothed aluminium roofs and glass façades. Two are currently for sale with The Modern House.

Following the recent rise in property rises in Littlehampton, The Sunday Times reports that Wood has been approached by other councils, keen to inject the same level of innovation and ideas into their seaside towns.