
Port Royal and the Eastern Town sit within the Devon seaside town of Sidmouth with a population of 12,569. The competition site encompasses an area that has been much contested locally, with several local community groups having been involved with, or producing schemes for, alternative visions for this part of the town. It also includes a variety of stakeholders, and land in multiple ownership, including but not limited to Devon County Council, East Devon District Council, South West Water, and individual local landowners.
The future of this strategic local asset is unclear, and during the last decade the site has become somewhat maligned. This competition aims to inculcate new thinking for this part of the south-west, not just architecturally, but also economically, socially, and environmentally. The site encompasses an area facing several strategic challenges; economic austerity, an aging population, nuclearisation resulting from the pull of urban centres, rising tides, and coastal erosion. Once rival only to sister town Brighton, Sidmouth was an exclusive Regency resort typified by impressive views, landscapes, and Georgian architecture, could Sidmouth use the redevelopment of its Eastern Town to redefine itself?
