A New Cafe for Deal Pier

Location: Deal Pier, Kent
Client: Dover District Council
Location: Deal, Kent
Contract Value: £500,000

The British seaside pier has a fantastic history. There is something exciting about walking out onto the water. Something dangerous and thrilling. The unsatisfying thing about piers in general however, is that the end destination is always in sight. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to discover a little something at the end? Something that makes it worthwhile facing the elements? Something hidden, something you don’t expect?

We propose a new destination at the end of the pier, but rather than have it in plain view as an icon, we suggest that it should be hidden from sight. A screen of mirrored slats running parallel to the shore, reflects the activity in front, and hides the spaces beyond. Small gaps between the slats allow peep views back and forth.

As you approach Deal along the coastal road, the elevation of the seafront will appear to float out on the water at the end of the pier. When walking along the pier, the perspective of the boardwalk will be reflected back to you, and it would appear as though you are walking back to the shore.

As you get closer, however, you begin to make out something beyond the mirrored screen. A café sits within this open but protected colonnade, nestled with a secondary skin of timber slats.

Its all about the framing of specific views, playing with the perception of perspectives, responding to the linearity of the horizon, and emphasises the need to make conscious decisions about what we want to look at.