At the beginning of 2014, the National Trust proposed a competition to the second year architectural students of the Arts University Bournemouth, who split into groups of between three and five students to produce a future-proof beach hut design. Although the National Trust wanted (and ultimately decided upon) a design that was cheap and closer to the stereotypical beach hut shape and design, it was decided that the group would produce a hut that questioned the norm as this was seen as a brief with which to explore ideas. 

 

The design focused on wooden walls, floor and roofing that folded, using hinges, into a sturdy gabion wall, which would shelter the wooden components from the weather until the hut is ready to be deployed again. This solution was based on the concept of the folding being easy for the hut’s owners or for National Trust volunteers, as the NT own many of the huts.

 

Although the competition was not won, it was an important introduction into working with clients, proposing an idea to a committee, as opposed to a tutor, and  working in a team.