Hastings and Bexhill Masterplan

Planning policy and strategy

In 2002 AZ Urban Studio produced a masterplan strategy for Hastings & Bexhill in partnership with MBM Arquitectes of Barcelona, and commissioned by SEEDA. The masterplan seeks to knit Bexhill and Hastings together, creating significant new residential and business development opportunities, positively defining the urban edges of each town and improving the relationship between the towns and their seafront environment.

The first delivery phase of the plan focused upon a town centre masterplan for Hastings which described a ‘banana’ of development opportunities running between the station and the eastern end of the seafront. The opportunities identified have attracted some of the UK’s leading architects to explore detailed designs within the framework. At the railway station is a new ‘university plaza’, being progressed by Hopkins Associates, while near the eastern end, Foster & Partners have designed the new Pelham Square providing a major new focus for Hastings’ seafront.

The plan is proving to be a powerful tool for generating both inward investment and design excellence.