Our building project

The Pavilion was designed by Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff, with engineering by Felix Samuely, and was named after the 9th Earl De La Warr, who was the driving force in its creation. 

The Pavilion opened to the public for the first time in December 1935.  

The De La Warr Pavilion Charitable Trust is a charity that manages the De La Warr Pavilion. The charity is governed by a group of Trustees who lend their support and expertise to the site’s management/operation. 

A listed building has special protection. 

The DLWP is listed grade I which is as important in heritage listing terms as the Houses of Parliament and The Palace of Westminster in Central London. 

A Grade I listed building signifies a structure of exceptional national, architectural, or historical importance and is the highest designation in the listing system, representing only about 2.5% of all listed buildings.   

Yes, we have undertaken pre-application discussions with both Historic England and the Twentieth Century society, as well as Rother District Council’s Conservation Officer. They have confirmed their support for the project and we are in the process of awaiting Listed Building Consent and Planning Permission. 

The DLWP has always suffered from lack of investment, since its creation in 1935. While the building may look sleek and modern, it was built by local tradespeople including Hastings fishers whose specialist knowledge working with winches and nets was key to raising the innovative steel frame of the building.

The 2005 John McAslan + Partners refurbishment scheme helped revitalise the building and has enabled us to welcome 7m visitors in subsequent years. However, as an £18m planned scheme scaled back to £8m, many required repairs and upgrades were omitted.  

The DLWP’s coastal location means that it is subject to extreme weather (wind and salt water) which inland buildings are not subjected to, to such an extent, if at all. The DLWP spends £250k+ annually maintaining the building but this can only help to patch some of the damage and repair works. A much more comprehensive package of improvements is required. This is why we are proposing the package of improvements as a complete masterplan that will help us to make maintenance easier to carry out and mitigate damage. 

The plans are available to view in Rother District Council planning portal.

The application will be considered at the planning committee in October 2025.  

The proposed development seeks a package of improvements that will be implemented over several years. Government funding is only available to cover the cost of the first phase, but we are also applying for National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England funding and there are other forms of funding including from individuals and organisations that can also be applied for once planning permission and listed building consent have been approved.  

Phasing also allows us to factor in rising costs, something which is affecting capital projects nationally.  

Please see our phasing diagram. Phase 1 will focus on the most essential works.

Phase 1 includes fully renovating our original auditorium, redesigned foyers for better visitor flow, a new accessible south entrance, and replacing the significant iconic windows (north stair, south stair and west flytower). 

Phase 2 includes important improvements to the backstage area, including an artist’s lift to improve access to the stage and dressing rooms and new load-in systems for performances. A brand-new Learning Studio on the South West corner of the site will increase community and venue hire facilities with direct access to the lawns and seafront.

Phase 3 includes restoration and conservation of the East Wing, new learning spaces, refurbished galleries and accessible landscaping to the south. 

The programme of works is currently being finalised. DLWP will continue its main exhibition and events programme throughout 2026, however some advance works are currently being planned. 

As the project will be delivered in phases, we hope to keep sections of the pavilion open during the works, we are working hard to try and make this happen. It will mean that the type of experience we offer will be different, but we hope to keep providing high quality cultural inspiration, engaging learning and good coffee for local people throughout the project. 

Our capital project is led by Haworth Tompkins a Stirling Prize-winning architectural studio with an international reputation for intelligent, purposeful design. Their projects have won over 180 major design awards, including the RIBA Stirling Prize in 2014, and they were named AJ100 Practice of the Year in both 2020 and 2022. The practice has over 30 years’ experience of working with iconic cultural buildings and collaborating with socially driven organisations who share their belief in creating spaces for people and communities.   

Their relevant capital projects include the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (2021) a major restoration of the grade I listed theatre; Battersea Arts Centre (2018) the rebirth of a town hall for community and theatre use; The National Theatre (2015) regeneration of Dennis Lasdun’s modernist masterpiece, and The Chichester Festival Theatre (2014)  renewal and expansion of Powell and Moya’s landmark Modernist producing theatre. 

Rother District Council is to receive £19M of Levelling Up Funding (LUF) from the government. DLWP, Sidley & RDC applied for the funds and made a strong case for investment. The funding was only available under specific criteria and could not be spent on core council activities (for example). 

DLWP is to receive £17M and Sidley will receive £2M. 

The Levelling Up Fund (LUF) bid is titled Community, Creativity and Skills and was made by Rother District Council in partnerships with DLWP for the benefit of Bexhill and Sidley. The DLWP money has been awarded for building works to unlock community cohesion, creativity and skills and at Sidley a community hub will be built at the Sidley recreation ground.  

RDC and DLWP have received development funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and will have submitted a full application in August 2025. The decision will be made public in December 2025. 

DLWP and RDC have been asked to submit a second-round application to Arts Council England Creative Foundations Fund. Submission of the second-round proposal is in October 2025 and decision notification is in March 2026. 

In 2005 there was a scheme designed by John McAslan and Partners architects that was constructed. The scheme was highly successful and helped DLWP go on to welcome 7 million visitors. However, the scheme was only part implemented. The full scheme had a cost of c.£18M, but the project was subject to significant cost cutting and only £8M was spent. This meant the full extent of repairs could not be undertaken.  

In addition, the harsh coastal climate means that this special building is subjected to difficult conditions which mean that the building has been subject to further decline over recent years. The masterplan project seeks to deliver significant repair and restoration works and make the DLWP more commercially resilient so ongoing maintenance can be better supported by revenue secured by events at the pavilion.  

In phase 2 of our masterplan the office building is to be remodelled and expanded to create a versatile and multi-functional new Studio space which will open onto the seafront. The project team are dedicated to minimising the environmental impact of demolition. 

Difficult decisions need to be made when considering phasing. We’d love to complete the works all as one phase, but we are limited by funding and the priorities we have committed to as part of the LUF funding. We are however aiming to improve the entrance landscape and welcome as part of phase 1 and we believe this will really help to improve the environment at the main entrance to the pavilion. 

We have carefully assessed the building heritage significance and the level of interventions we are proposing to make. The works to the auditorium will significantly improve event operation set up and take down, allowing more events to take place which will assist with viability. In addition, we consider it important that the space is made accessible to all – this is not the case now. We consider the proposed changes essential for the future of the DLWP. 

LUF is a very specific fund that needed projects that satisfied specific criteria.  This meant that the projects had to be well-developed and in the scope of Rother’s authority e.g Potholes in roads could not be included as they come under the authority of East Sussex County Council.  In short, the money is for building works to unlock creativity and skills and cannot be spent on other things such as subsidising day to day activities. This means that the rising cost of living and energy prices remain as big a challenge to the Pavilion and Heart of Sidley as they do to everyone.

All ideas and projects within the bid had been developed through continuous and consultation and surveys with the community for a number of years.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players they support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Their vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. The NLHF believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.

Sidley has received £2m to build a community hub at the Sidley recreation ground. It will be multipurpose, respond to the needs of the community and therefore include a café, changing places facilities, sports changing rooms and improvements to the outside area. The project breaks ground in July 2025.

Sidley is in the  top 1% of most deprived areas in the UK with a lower than average GVA (the government’s measure of productivity and economic output). Life expectancy in Sidley and in Bexhill Central Ward (where DLWP is situated) is 7 years less than other areas in the locality. Both wards have below than average mean earnings which is why there is so much emphasis in the bid on growing skills, training and jobs. Both developments will respond to the needs of the community in terms of job opportunities for young people, health and well-being and connecting the community through creativity and learning new skills.

We can all see that the fabric of the Pavilion needs some love, and that some areas such as the auditorium have never had proper investment since it was built. The 2005 refurbishment was specified at £18m but delivered for c.£8m and so was compromised in terms of what was delivered in terms of the fabric of the building. It has also been long recognised that community spaces are limited and ‘hidden round the back’, there is a lack of bars and toilets, and our teams are fighting widespread roof leaks across the site, etc.

We receive regular funding from Rother District Council and Arts Council England to provide specific services to our community centred around arts, culture and entertainment. This is around £1m per year, with which we generate a further £3m per annum through our activities giving rise to local employment (around 120 staff), supporting local suppliers & trades, and of course artists, educationalists and freelancers. We continue to fundraise to support the delivery of free to access creative and education projects which benefit the local community. We also play a role in local inward investment of government funds (Beeching Road, Levelling Up Fund), the music service and tourism.

We have received previous funding for air handling and a technical upgrade to the auditorium, which form steps towards the larger masterplan.

During covid we received Culture Recovery Funding like any other organisations like us to ensure that we could survive the pandemic and the employment of our teams.