Bexhill Amateur Athletic Club, Little Common Road

Bexhill Amateur Athletic Club, Little Common Road
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LL ref:	189
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Architect:	N/A
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Planned and designed in the mid 1930s, the foundation stone having been laid by the Mayor of Bexhill in 1937, the Second World War delayed its completion and it was finally opened in May 1946, 8 months after the war ended in 1945. This is a very early example of an urban sports centre, a rare building type until the 1960s. It was built for the Bexhill Amateur Athletic Club and continues in its original fitness use as a gym and judo club.

Its design is very much in the 1930s fusion of modern movement and neo-Georgian idioms, the latter most evident in the rather whimsical square-section cupola with clock face on the front elevation facing Bexhill Down. The double-height gymnasium (lit by full height steel windows) and two stories of offices stand to the rear with a lower frontage to Little Common Road, the entrance incorporating a simple art deco-inspired porch. On the right hand side the last bay has a wall of bricks inscribed with the names of those who donated a shilling to help fund the construction of the building. The elevations are of a dark red brick with broad concrete tiles of the hipped roof.

Gallery

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  Rear elevation
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  Foundation stones
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  Wall of names of those who donated a shilling to help build the sports centre.
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