Today is the day that will hopefully end a dark period of decay for Embassy Court. The modernist apartment block at Brighton’s seaside houses 72 flats that have mostly fallen into disrepair in the past years. Test repair works on the concrete façade will be carried out to determine the extent and character of the works required.
After a long period of inaction the tenant lead initiative Bluestorm established contacts with Conran and Partners who have drawn up a restoration scheme that will sensitively reinstate the building as the most important British modernist seaside apartment block. After a consensus was reached among the tenants that they would privately invest in the works, applications for listed building consent for replacement windows and services were submitted to Brighton and Hove Council.
The Twentieth Century Society welcomes the scheme with enthusiasm. We are pleased to see that Wells Coates buildings are currently being appreciated and restored – after Lawn Road (also known as the Isokon Building), a building by the same architects, Embassy Court is another example of a successful approach to save modernism.
For more information and photos please contact: Cordula Zeidler, Caseworker, on 020 7250 3857, Cordula.Zeidler(at)c20society.org.uk
Paul Zara, Conran Architects, 020 7403 8899
Bluestorm, 01273 220 880, 079 86 286 863
Embassy Court is a grade II* listed building. It was designed by Wells Coates and opened in 1935.
The Twentieth Century Society is a membership organisation which campaigns for the conservation of the best C20th architecture. It was founded in 1976 as the Thirties Society and is now recognised by government and has a statutory role in the planning process. For more details, see our website, www.c20society.org.uk.