Opera to fishing – pupils inspired to provide an Ardrossan beacon

It might seem a long way from the Sydney Opera House to the seafront at Ardrossan, but 15-year old Scott Mitchell doesn’t see it that way.

Scott is the winner of a competition to design a temporary beach hut to be sited on Ardrossan south beach this summer.

Organised by Irvine Bay Regeneration Company, North Ayrshire Council and St Matthew’s secondary school in Saltcoats, as part of the school’s Standard Grade Art and Design course, some 15 pupils entered the competition. Local architects McMillan Cronin worked with the pupils to develop scale drawings, which will be used to construct the winning design.

Robert Sheerins, the school’s principal teacher of art and design said: “Pupils were invited to come up with a design for a two-chamber beach hut that could be used as a holiday base for a small family or couple. Each pupil undertook a study of architecture as part of this design investigation, and also of architects for the written element of their course. Pupils were also asked to decide on a theme, or source of inspiration, for their design, essentially to give their creativity a platform.”

Scott said: “My designs were derived from a range of influences including Celtic designs, the Sydney Opera House and structures taken from fishing boats. I am over the moon about winning the Irvine Bay competition and ecstatic about the whole process to come. I’m looking forward to working with many different people to help develop my designs and I just can’t wait to see the end result”.

Scott’s hut will be installed for the month of August on the beach front at Ardrossan and will feature in the town’s ‘Big on the Beach’ festival where it will be used as a gallery and exhibition space. Local community groups will be offered use of the space to demonstrate their work and their objectives.

The project chimes in with plans for a series of ‘coastal beacons’ that will mark promontories and landmarks along the 14-mile arc of Irvine Bay, some of which will be permanent and others temporary.

School pupils will be involved in the construction of the winning hut, which, after the festival, will be used at Irvine’s Maritime Museum. Despite its temporary nature, the project’s partners are keen to ensure that the initiative should continue. Marion Francis of Irvine Bay Regeneration Company, said:

“We’re going to encourage the school pupils to come up with a new design each year, then create a ‘beach hut trail’ linking each year’s design. In the past there were plenty of huts on the Clyde coast seafront, selling ice cream, buckets and spades or tickets for the putting greens and crazy golf courses. There were also lots of seafront shelters where families could sit on a bench and admire the view. The beach hut project is an echo of those days, while encouraging the children to consider what these structures could look like in the future.

“We’re using this project to change the way that people – particularly children – think about space and function, as well as about art. Although it will be a temporary structure, we see the beach hut as a trailblazer for a larger project to create a permanent beach pavilion on the promenade at Ardrossan in 2011.”

The use and function of the beach hut is important. It is intended to be an iconic structure, encouraging people onto the sea front and to re-inspire local people about their own town. The idea is also to attract visitors from outwith the area to visit the Clyde coast afresh, especially the towns of Ardrossan, Stevenston, Saltcoats, Kilwinning and Irvine.