Aldeburgh Lifeboat Station, Suffolk
Post-modernism on a Suffolk beach
Aldeburgh Lifeboat Station was designed by Mullins Dowse Architects and completed in 1994. The building replaced an earlier station on the same site at Slaughden beach.
The station introduced protective cover for both boat and tractor for the first time. A single-storey section links them and provides crew facilities including showers, toilets and a heated store for foul weather suits. A public viewing platform is incorporated into the structure.
The building responds to its exposed shingle beach setting with a distinctive post-modernist approach. Large A-frames mark the entrances and create a dramatic roofline that references traditional boat-building and echo the buildings behind.
Weatherboarding in contrasting colours—blue, red and the grey roof—adds a playful, nautical character. Circular porthole windows and nautical detailing reinforce the maritime theme. This combination of functional engineering and decorative elements typifies post-modernist design of the 1990s, where buildings could express themselves.
The project was funded in part through a legacy from Mrs Eugenie Boucher. She bequeathed £4 million to the RNLI in 1992 for constructing boathouses around the coast. The station was extended in 2000 at a cost of just over £240,000.
