Yachtsmen’s Facilities, Brighton Marina
Rob Loader reports
After an application made on behalf of Docomomo UK in August 2021, Brighton & Hove Council this March added the Yachtsmans’ Facillities (showers and wcs) in Brighton Marina to the local list. They are a significant early work by architect Eva Jiricna. C20 supported the application.
Born in Czechoslovakia, Jiricna has been based in England since 1968. She was elected fellow of Royal College of Art (1990) and Royal Society of Arts; elected as an academician to the Royal Academy (1997); elected president of Architectural Association (2003). Named Commander of British Empire (CBE, 1994).
The 1960s and 70s saw much enthusiasm for the possibilities of glass reinforced plastic (GRP) - perhaps most familiar as a construction material for boats - as an architectural material. One of the best sources is Arthur Quarmby’s book, ‘The Plastics Architect’ published in 1974 where he describes early, experimental examples of actual and possible uses of GRP panels as a self-supporting, structural material. In practice nearly all buildings that utilised GRP did so as non-structural cladding only. The dock-side buildings in Brighton Marina are very well-preserved examples of the very few remaining buildings from the period where the structural quality of GRP has been conceived to enclose the whole building.
The structure of the buildings is clearly expressed as deeply ribbed GRP sections that form self-supporting integrated wall and roof sections. These are bolted together, panel to panel with cover strips between each segment. The deep corrugations extend the full length of the panels across the building before neatly terminating at the bases on each side. The GRP panels sit over an elegantly recessed concrete upstand. Doors and louvred vents are carefully set into specially designed panels. Nautical doors and portholes are used, which were to become features of Jiricna’s later and better-known work.
When I spoke to her a few months ago Eva recounted that she was given a great deal of design freedom as the partners at the de Soissons office had no particular interest in modern architecture or materials. Of her ten years on the project she said, “All the materials I have ever used in the shops, staircases and apartments I have designed since, I learned about at Brighton Marina” (Martin Pawley, ‘Eva Jiricna Design in Exile’, Blueprint Monographs, 1990).
The engineer was Ray Elmes of the Ove Arup Partnership.
