© Nick Kane
- Architects: JaK Studio
- Location: Eastbourne, United Kingdom
- Area: 6.0 m2
- Project Year: 2017
- Photographs: Nick Kane, Francesco Russo
- Design Consultants: Seymour Powell
- Structural Engineers: Car Ltd
- Consulting Artist: Alban Low
- Lighting Designers: Light IQ
- Textile Designer: Cliveworks
- Cdm2015 Advisor: Fred Hurr BA Hons, MCICES, RFAPS
- Specialist Concrete Manufacture: GSSL Gunite and Shotcrete Services Limited
- Vehicular Turntable: UK Turntables Ltd
© Nick Kane
Text description provided by the architects. The idea for the ‘Spy Glass’ was to build a structure that has all the nostalgia of an original beach hut with a new physical form that would pay homage to the classic beach hut – an iconic symbol of the British seaside.
Floor Plan
The Spy Glass is built on a recessed turntable allowing the transparent ‘picture window’ of the hut to be turned like traditional slot binoculars – this can be rotated in a 180-degree direction, via remote control, to face the sun, seascape or the bright lights of Eastbourne Pier, ‘reacting’ to daily life around it.
At the promenade end of the hut, there is a timber clad entrance door with an overhang formed by the cantilevered daybed inside. This cantilever has 2 porthole windows and an external shower head. The adaptability of the Spy Glass allows the hut can be used as a private beach hut.
© Francesco Russo
JaK Studio set about designing the beach hut using a combination of robust nautical materials. The hut sits on a heavy-duty vehicle turntable which enables it to rotate from east to west. The Spy Glass measurements are based on a traditional beach hut, with typical dimensions of 2 meters wide x 3 meters long x 3 meters high.
© Francesco Russo
Structure Axonometric
© Nick Kane