An Icon for Everyone is a transformation project delivered by Rother District Council and De La Warr Pavilion to restore and reimagine the De La Warr Pavilion for the next century.
The Grade I listed Pavilion is one of Britain’s most iconic 1930s modernist buildings, born from ideals of innovation, culture, and equality. Commissioned by the 9th Earl De La Warr as Britain’s first arts centre and imagined as a “People’s Palace”, it was designed by pioneering architects Erich Mendelsohn, after his flight from Germany in 1933, and Serge Chermayeff, a Russian émigré. The Pavilion remains a symbol of creativity and social vision on the Bexhill seafront.
Today, the De La Warr Pavilion is a leading multi-arts centre. With two galleries, a 1,500-capacity auditorium, studio, café/bar with sea views, rooftop and outdoor spaces, it is the only building of its kind in the Southeast outside London and Brighton. The Pavilion welcomes over 350,000 visitors every year to experience art, performance, learning and skills programmes that inspire creativity and connect communities across one of the UK’s most deprived regions.
But the building faces severe challenges. Roof leaks, corroding windows and ageing systems threaten both physical heritage and our organisational mission. Community demand for spaces exceeds capacity and, without investment, the Pavilion’s cultural and community impact will significantly diminish.
Designed by architects Haworth Tompkins and with input from local people, the redevelopment will create new learning and community spaces, refurbish our auditorium and galleries, improve accessibility, support organisational resilience and embed sustainability throughout the building.
This investment will safeguard our heritage and empower our community: widening access, increasing visitors, expanding creative learning, generating new local jobs and strengthening Bexhill’s economy.
Our centenary vision
We have a clear vision to deliver a three-phase masterplan within the next decade to safeguard the Pavilion and protect it as it approaches its centenary. The Pavilion will continue to be open, however throughout the project some parts of it will not be operational.
Some work begins this year such as repairing the auditorium piano lift after five years out of use, refurbishing the iconic staircases, installing solar panels, and replacing the auditorium seating with brand new permanent, comfortable seating.
Phase one focuses on refurbishing and reimagining the public and creative spaces – the auditorium, foyers, entrances and essential infrastructure – so it can once again fully serve its community. It will begin with essential works on the famous curved stair glazing, protecting it from further degradation and installation solar PVs on the repaired auditorium roof. This phase will improve accessibility, strengthen sustainability and reduce environmental impact. It will restore creative capacity and expand cultural opportunity, transforming the Pavilion into a more resilient and sustainable cultural asset. Crucially, it will protect free access to the building, sustaining free exhibitions, outreach activity and community-led programming.
Improvements include:
• New step-free north and south entrances with automated doors, providing – for the first time – step-free access from the seafront.
• A relocated and fire-safe public lift, a new backstage lift and fully step-free routes throughout public spaces.
• Widened foyers, created by the relocated lift, clearer circulation and improved wayfinding, reducing congestion.
• A Changing Places WC and expanded, inclusive toilets.
• Reinstating heritage finishes, including terrazzo, balustrades and original lighting.
• Repairing roofs, façades, windows, metalwork & rainwater systems, ending repeated water damage, thermal loss and emergency repairs.
• Refurbishing the auditorium with upgraded AV, adjustable raking and fly-tower rigging.
• Wheelchair-accessible seating in the auditorium balcony.
• Replacing all auditorium, stage, foyer and gallery lighting with LEDs.
• A new permanent ground-floor bar and café.
• Installing air-source heat pump infrastructure and photovoltaics.
• Repairing degraded steel-framed doors and windows and installing double-glazing where possible.
• Refurbished and repurposed flexible spaces.
Phase two 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 three includes restoration and conservation of the East Wing, new learning spaces, refurbished galleries and accessible landscaping to the south.
Timeline
| 9th October 2025 | Rother District Council has unanimously granted planning permission and listed building consent for the De La Warr Pavilion Masterplan. |
| 12th December 2025 | De La Warr Pavilion and Rother District Council are awarded £7.6 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. |
| 23rd February 2026 | Tender is out for Rother District Council to appoint a Main Contractor to deliver auditorium, and foyer works at the De La Warr Pavilion. |
| May 2026 | Phase one begins with advanced works. |
| January 2027 | Phase one main works start. |
Rother District Council are seeking to appoint a suitable qualified and experienced Main Contractor to deliver auditorium and foyer works at the iconic and Grade I listed De La Warr Pavilion as part of the transformation project, An Icon For Everyone.
This contract intends to undertake a comprehensive set of refurbishment activities to renovate the original auditorium, redesign the foyer spaces and improve visitor experience and accessibility, support organisational resilience and embed sustainability throughout the building from October 2026 to February 2028. The Pavilion is going to remain live and operational throughout this period in a limited capacity.
The appointed/shortlisted contractors need to meet stringent requirements and will be the best suited to carry out this complex conservation project. We have contacted suitable scale local businesses to ensure local engagement and the procurement process is open to those that meet required criteria through the council’s procurement website. We are ensuring that all tenderers can provide compelling evidence of their contribution to the local area through direct employment, sub-contractor relationships and supply chain. This means that money we spend with contractors through the project will be re-invested in Bexhill, Rother & East Sussex through jobs and trade.
For more information about this contract tender please visit: www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/018822-2026 and for more information about An Icon For Everyone please visit: www.dlwp.com/our-capital-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’s and Moya’s landmark Modernist producing theatre.
Heritage
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. Below are some images of the De La Warr Pavilion from 1935, courtesy of Bexhill Museum.
