Ugliest building in Brighton faces demolition

11th December 2015

Ugliest building in Brighton faces demolition

The much-maligned Brighton Centre is facing demolition in ambitious plans to transform the seafront.

As part of the wider £540m project to rejuvenate the Brighton seaside from the Marina to Kingswest, the creaking, outdated Brighton Centre – known to some as Brighton's ugliest building – is set to be replaced by a much larger arena/conference centre down at the derelict Black Rock site by the Marina.

The new centre is expected to be 10,000 capacity, more than twice the size of the current Brighton Centre, and will bring visitors down to what is a largely ignored area to tourists. Initial worries about the distance – Brighton Centre is a short walk from the train station, whereas Black Rock is a bus ride – have been assuaged with promises of some form of purpose-built rapid-transit system. Details have yet to emerge, though a high-speed monorail has apparently been ruled out.

With the current Brighton Centre gone, plans are to extend Churchill Square down to the front, vastly increasing the square footage of retail space in the city, and revitalising what has itself become a fairly tired shopping centre.

Key to the development is the construction of a new block of flats at the bottom of West Street, said to be a planned 20 storeys, to help ameliorate Brighton & Hove's acute housing shortage.

There has been concern from residents surrounding tall buildings – Brighton is a fairly squat city – but with the sea to the south and the Downs to the north, we can no longer build out, so we must build up if the city is to meet its housing needs.

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    Mr Michnowicz Waldegrave Road

  • Sharon, Harvey and James were all excellent - very professional. Totally opposite to what I have experienced with other agents. Maslen have restore...

    Ms Lyons Woodingdean

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    Mr & Mrs Smith Lewes Road

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    Ms Gray Lewes Road

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    Ms Wynn-Jones Baxter Street

  • Thanks David, all very professional.

    Mrs Flowers Foxdown Road

  • Ben was particularly enthusiastic and helpful. Martin, Paula, Sam and Will are all hard workers.

    Ms Goodey Franklin Road

  • Quality advice about when and how to sell, which was spot on. Thank you.

    Miss Coleman Buller Road

  • In February 2016 I was looking to buy and sell very rapidly. Competition among buyers at the time was very high. Sharon @ the Woodingdean branch sh...

    Ms Helen Lyons Woodingdean

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    Mr & Mrs Gill Lewes Road

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    Ms S Hike Blackthorn Close

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    Miss Matthews Kipling Avenue

  • You were amazingly helpful throughout - a real pillar of strength with a very difficult sale.

    Mrs Parkin Fiveways

  • Nick and Paula are total stars! They were incredibly supportive and present throughout. Thank you!

    Miss O'Haire Hove

  • Graham Griffin provided us, and continues to provide us, will all-round excellent advice. We trust his knowledge and expertise.

    Mr Blackmore & Ms O'Sullivan Financial Services

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    Miss Blackadder Coniston Court, Holland Road

  • As always, an excellent service. 

    Mr & Mrs Field Lewes Road

  • Very helpful and patient team.

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    Mrs Lincoln Hove

  • The whole team were excellent, each one of them felt like family. Sharon had a lot of sorting to do at times but coped very well, a true profession...

    Mr Vernon Woodingdean

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    Ms Easterbrook Bear Road

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    Many thanks to Paul, Donna, Janette and the...

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    Mr Gibbs Lewes Road

  • Excellent communication and advice throughout. It felt very reassuring to be in good hands.

    Mrs Brooker Buller Road

  • Excellent Service from start to finish.

    Mr T Mole Cromwell Road

  • Paul was absolutely brilliant. 

    Mrs Tasker Fiveways

  • Excellent service from the Lewes Road branch. Martin Timms secured a quick sale & at a good price & Paula Carter worked really hard to secure...

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    Ms D Edmonds Horton Road

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    Mr McLagan Lewes Road

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    Mr & Mrs Knight Woodingdean

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    Mr Beddington Brading Road

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    Mrs Mead Upper Lewes Road

  • Sharon and her team could not have done more in what was a difficult sale. 

    Ms Daly Woodingdean

  • Very impressive - professional and friendly, both Martin Timms and Paula Carter were excellent at keeping in contact with sensible advice based on...

    Mrs O'Connor Hove

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    Miss New & Mr Jackson Buller Road

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    Mrs Tripp Woodingdean

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    Mr Thorne The Avenue

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    Ms A King Balfour Road

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    Mr King Hove

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    Mr McBlane Hove

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    Ms Frederick Channel View Road

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    Mr White Fiveways

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    Mr & Mrs Guest Riley Road

  • Maslens as a whole were really friendly and professional. I have to thank and congratulate Paula Carter for being superb at her job and exceeding m...

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    Miss Hockly Fiveways

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    Mr Grundy Bishops Road

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    Mr & Mrs Ashley Woodingdean

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    Ms Aspnall Gladstone Place

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    Mr & Mrs English The Ridgway

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    Ms McGrigor Milner Road

  • Excellent service as always

    Mr Field Ringmer Road

  • A good team at Woodingdean helped us through a stressful time.

    Mr & Mrs Penton Sycamore Close

  • Very pleased with the service. Many thanks to Sharon and the boys!

    Mr Flynn Woodingdean

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    Mr Wells Bishops Road

  • Brilliant. Well done to Sharon and the Woodingdean team.

    Ms Curtis The Ridgway

  • Paul Wilkinson was extremely helpful and efficient. The only problem was the vendors solicitor and Paul warned me of this. A good transaction all r...

    Mr Lavender Fiveways

  • Thank you. We found all the staff knowledgeable and really pleasant to deal with. 

    Ms Ansloos Lewes Road

  • Harvey was helpful and easily reachable at the beginning of the process and Sharon kept us informed and was always happy to help.

    Ms Murch & Ms Mapa Ticehurst Road

  • All agents at Maslen were extremely helpful and polite from the beginning to the completion of sale. 

    Mr Johnson Fiveways

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    Ms Tucker Willow Close

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    Mrs Field Tarner Road

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    Ms Windels & Mr Barham Fiveways

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    Dr Crichton The Ridgway

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    Mrs Bent Falmer Gardens

  • Very happy with the service we got from you guys, everyone we dealt with was extremely friendly, professional and helpful. Thanks!

    Mr Brown Titian Road

  • Please thank Paula at Lewes Road - Excellent service. 

    Mr & Mrs Nuthall Lewes Road

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    Mrs Porter Taunton Road

  • Paula was fabulous and we felt really informed and supported. 

    Mr & Mrs Walker Lewes Road

  • Sharon was excellent - kept us well informed, thank you so much!

    Ms Waters Cowley Drive

  • Very good service and communication. Paula was excellent.

    Mr & Mrs Scarboro 1 Pevensey Road

  • Thank you Maslens, you were all excellent!

    Miss Jasper Taunton Road

  • Cannot express our appreciation enough of all the efforts made by the Woodingdean team - they were fantastic.

    Mr John Mogridge Woodingdean

  • Many thanks to Nick. It was an easy process thanks to you! I'm extremely satisfied with how the sale went, great job.

    Ms Mayanobe Aymer Road

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