Evaluation

The project set out to be what CABE Chairman John Sorrell has described as a ‘local hero’ – a petit projet that has a disproportionate impact on perceptions of its surrounding environment. In this the building has succeeded – it has received global publicity, it has put both the café and Littlehampton on the map.

Being voted one of the top ten coolest places to visit by Vogue magazine may have surprised the inhabitants of the town but it is used in council publicity information and has changed residents’ and politicians’ perceptions of the place. The publicity has also ensured the commercial success of the café itself.

As a sculptural building it responds brilliantly to the site; the intricate geometry provides an ever changing delight as the shadows and shapes shift with the light and exacts the sort of visceral response from the spectator that one expects from all great art.

The designer’s vision of the building as a place of prospect and refuge works – the interior is relaxed and friendly and diners clearly enjoy the atmosphere. It works on a sunny day when all the full height doors can be open and the eating area becomes an extension of the beach, and it works at night when diners feel protected from the wind and darkness.

People who come to the building are almost universally complimentary. Some observers are less so, finding the radical nature of the design hard to comprehend. Does it work? Yes, although its success means that it is already too small.