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McAslan and his team worked patiently and got the details just right. For instance, the windows facing the ocean have been replaced (in keeping with the original design) with steel-framed ones. Also, the restaurant layout has been simplified, and the proportions and ceiling heights of key rooms have been restored to the original, undoing the unsightly 1960s modifications.

Aside from the fluid horizontal bands of the viewing balconies, the sculptural spiral staircase is the center point for the pavilion. This ribbon of concrete extends through the building and offers views out to the sea and down through the stairs to the floors below. The experience of ascending through the levels is pleasurable, and the space is flooded with natural light.

Lively Arts

During the busy summer weekends since its reopening, the pavilion has contributed to a vibrant atmosphere as hundreds of onlookers pack the building to watch theatrical and musical performances on the terrace.

In front of the pavilion, a shell-like bandstand designed by Niall McLaughlin Architects complements the pavilion's modern design. With a form like the wings of a seagull, the movable steel, plywood, and fiberglass bandstand has been the recipient of several design awards. In 2002, a RIBA awards jury described the bandstand as "exhilarating, recalling both the dynamics of early modernism and the organic aspirations of the present day."

The De La Warr Pavilion may have a serene, sculptural form, but this modernist building is clearly made for enjoyment and inhabitation. It is incredible that something so minimal, white, and unyieldingly formal can be so full of life and energy. The building is an advertisement for modern design and a rare chance for people to enjoy free use of an architectural icon.

There is no doubt that the pavilion, despite being located in a sleepy seaside town, has been restored to its rightful place as a national architectural treasure. In his preface to the book De La Warr Pavilion: The Modernist Masterpiece, Richard Rogers calls the building "an enigmatic symbol of a European movement that went on to influence the work and teaching of others worldwide."

One imagines the passionate Earl De La Warr would have shared the modern visitor's delight at experiencing the refurbished building. When he first visited, he declared the pavilion to be "a modernist building of world renown which will become the crucible for creating a new model of culture provision in an English seaside town."

Although more than 70 years have passed, with thanks to the thoughtful work of McAslan and the pavilion's supporters, the not-so-radical refurbishment and reinterpretation has restored the De La Warr Pavilion as a place of lasting beauty.

Terri Whitehead is a writer and designer based in London.

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The De La Warr Pavilion (1935) by Erich Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff. Photo: Brady Peters Simple, iconic form of international modernism. Photo: Brady Peters North-side stair. Photo: Brady Peters North-side auditorium. Photo: Miles Comfort South stair. Photo: Bridget Smith Looking down the original south stairwell. Photo: Brady Peters Looking up the original south stairwell. Photo: Brady Peters View from north stair. Photo: Brady Peters   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.