Birnbeck Island building, Western England coast property, Architect info, Design news

Birnbeck Island : Architecture

English Proposal design by Antonino Cardillo Architetto, Italy

Birnbeck Island – design proposal by Antonino Cardillo

Birnbeck Island – Winner announced Mar 2008:
Levitate Architecture & Design Studio

Shortlisted architects included AOC, Flacq & Richards Partington Architects
Joint Urban Splash/RIBA competition

page updated 31 Jul 2016

Birnbeck Island Competition

28 Feb 2017 – the content on this page removed by request of the architect

Birnbeck Pier is a pier situated on the Bristol Channel in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, approximately 18 miles (29 km) south-west of Bristol. It is the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an island, linking to Birnbeck Island, a 1.2 hectares (3.0 acres) rocky island just to the west of Worlebury Hill.

The grade II* listed pier was designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867. The gothic toll house and pierhead buildings were designed by local architect Hans Price. The pier has been closed to the public since 1994 and is now on the Buildings at Risk Register.

In 2006 the pier was sold to Manchester property development company Urban Splash. The new owners launched an architecture competition in August 2007, inviting design teams to submit ideas for the regeneration of the pier and island.

At the time, the repair work required was estimated at £4 million. There were 95 entries for the design competition from around the world, whittled down to a shortlist of six design teams. The winner of the design competition, Levitate Architecture and Design Studio Ltd, was announced in March 2008.

In August 2008, the Royal Institute of British Architects announced a campaign to redesign the buildings on the island, and six designs were submitted. One of the designs removed the existing buildings and piers to replace them with walking paths, and added a large curvilinear concrete building to the island. The design called for many windows in the building to create a large panorama of the surrounding seascape. In September 2010 Urban Splash placed the pier up for sale, citing a downfall in business caused by the recession as their reason.

Location: Birnbeck Island, western England, United Kingdom