Places · South East · Brighton
Façade & building consultants in Brighton.
From the Royal Pavilion and the stucco crescents of Kemp Town to post-war towers and new mixed-use schemes, Brighton's buildings face some of the harshest seaside weather in England. McKay Turner Consulting provides façade condition surveys, defect and water ingress investigations, FRAEW (PAS 9980) and EWS1 assessments across Brighton and Hove.
BRIGHTON 50.8225° N, 0.1372° W
A short history
From fishing village to Regency resort
Sea bathing, royal patronage and the railway turned a small fishing town into one of England's best-known resorts, and each stage left its own kind of building.
- 1086
Bristelmestune
The fishing village that became Brighton is recorded in the Domesday Book.
- 1787
The Marine Pavilion
Henry Holland builds a seaside villa for the Prince of Wales, the start of the Royal Pavilion.
- 1815–23
Nash's Royal Pavilion
John Nash transforms the villa with domes and minarets, carried on a cast-iron frame.
- 1823
Kemp Town begins
Thomas Kemp starts the great stuccoed crescents and squares east of the town.
- 1841
The railway arrives
The London to Brighton line opens and the town grows quickly as a resort.
- 1866
The West Pier
Eugenius Birch's pier opens. It closed in 1975 and was ruined by fires in 2003.
- 1968
Sussex Heights
The 102m residential tower is completed, still the tallest building in Sussex.
- 2026
Madeira Terrace
Restoration of the first 28 arches of the Victorian cast-iron seafront terrace continues.
Architecture
What makes Brighton's buildings distinctive
Brighton is best known for Regency stucco, but behind the paint are local materials found almost nowhere else, and all of them are exposed to wind-driven rain and salt.
Key styles
Fishing town & The Lanes
Narrow lanes of flint-cobble and brick cottages from the old town of Brighthelmstone.
Regency
Bow-fronted stucco terraces and squares: Royal Crescent, Regency Square, Brunswick Town and Kemp Town.
Victorian resort
Hotels, piers and the cast-iron Madeira Terrace, with red-brick and rendered terraces inland.
Seaside modernism
Embassy Court (1935) by Wells Coates, an early modernist block of flats on the seafront.
Post-war towers
Sussex Heights (1968) and council tower blocks built across the city.
Contemporary
The Jubilee Library (2005), the i360 (2016), student housing and new mixed-use schemes.
The city's material palette
Did you know?
Many Regency walls are bungaroosh: rubble, flint and brick bound in lime and cast between shuttering, then rendered. It is weak when it gets wet, so leaks and cracking need careful diagnosis.
Mathematical tiles are clay tiles hung on battens to look like brickwork. The Royal Crescent (1798–1807) is faced in black glazed tiles.
The Royal Pavilion's onion domes and minarets are carried on a cast-iron frame, unusual engineering for its time.
Typical building types
What Brighton is built of today
Hemmed in by the sea and the South Downs, Brighton and Hove pack a lot of old and new building into a compact city, much of it within sight of the shore.
Regency terraces & squares
Listed stucco houses, many converted into flats, with bay fronts, balconies and basements.
Where: Brunswick Town, Regency Square, Kemp Town
Seafront hotels
Large Victorian and later hotels facing wind, rain and salt spray.
Where: King's Road, Marine Parade, Hove seafront
Mixed-use high streets
Shops below and homes above, often with a mix of wall types from different eras.
Where: North Street, Western Road, London Road
Purpose-built student
Blocks serving the University of Sussex and the University of Brighton.
Where: Lewes Road, Moulsecoomb, city centre
Council tower blocks
1960s and 1970s high-rise homes, many refurbished or over-clad since.
Where: Across the city
Victorian terraces
Brick and rendered terraces on Brighton's steep streets, now often flats or HMOs.
Where: Hanover, Kemptown, Preston Park
Seafront heritage
Piers, arches, shelters and promenades in a harsh marine setting.
Where: Madeira Drive, the Palace Pier, the Lanes
Offices & civic
Post-war and modern offices, the universities and civic buildings.
Where: Brighton station area, Edward Street, Hove Town Hall
Current construction trends
Where Brighton is building now
Restoring the seafront, finding room for new homes and making existing blocks safe are the main themes.
Madeira Terrace restoration
The first 28 arches of the Victorian cast-iron terrace on Madeira Drive are being restored, reusing much of the original ironwork.
City Plan homes
The Brighton & Hove City Plan plans for around 13,200 new homes by 2030 on a city tightly bounded by the sea and the South Downs.
Building safety
Residential blocks, student housing and mixed-use buildings are being appraised under PAS 9980 and the Building Safety Act.
Coastal exposure
Wind-driven rain and salt air wear render, ironwork, sealants and fixings quickly, so planned maintenance matters on the seafront.
How we help in Brighton
Every era of building has its own risks
We match our inspections and advice to the age and construction of your building.
Regency stucco, flint and bungarooshc.1780–1840
Cracked and hollow render, damp in bungaroosh walls, decayed timber and failed lime pointing.
Victorian and Edwardian brick, stucco and cast ironc.1840–1914
Corroded ironwork and fixings, failed roofs and gutters, and water getting in around bays and balconies.
Post-war towers and concretec.1950–1990
Spalling concrete, corroded reinforcement, ageing windows and later over-cladding.
Mixed-use, student and residential blocksc.1990–today
Combustible cladding and insulation, missing cavity barriers and leaking interfaces.
New build and conversionstoday
Design and specification gaps, workmanship defects and Building Safety Act requirements.
134–136 North Street, Brighton: a three-day intrusive survey from four scaffold towers, opening up four wall types for a PAS 9980 appraisal of a busy high-street building.
Read the North Street case study →FAQs
Façade services in Brighton
Do you carry out FRAEWs and EWS1 forms in Brighton?
Yes. We carry out Fire Risk Appraisals of External Walls to PAS 9980 and EWS1 assessments on residential, student and mixed-use buildings across Brighton, Hove and Sussex. We are Homes England approved Cladding Safety Scheme assessors. See our page on FRAEWs in London and the South East.
Have you worked in Brighton?
Yes. At 134–136 North Street we carried out a three-day intrusive survey and PAS 9980 appraisal of the retail levels of a large mixed-use building, opening up four wall types from scaffold towers.
Can you investigate damp and cracking in Regency buildings?
Yes. Stucco, flint and bungaroosh walls need careful diagnosis. We investigate the cause of damp, cracking and water ingress and recommend repairs that suit the original construction.
Which other services do you offer in Brighton?
Façade condition surveys, defect and leak investigations, technical due diligence, design reviews, remediation project management, planned maintenance and expert witness work.
Work with us
Own or manage a building in Brighton?
We provide façade condition surveys, defect investigations, PAS 9980 appraisals and EWS1 assessments, and manage remediation across Brighton, Hove and the South East.
Photographs: Oleksii Tsaryuk and Veerle Contant on Unsplash.