5: The De La Warr Pavilion, 1935

The staid town of Bexhill-on-Sea, on a site next to a range of cottages in a vaguely Mogul style, is an odd place to find one of the most confident works of modernist architecture in Britain. But then, as at the Brighton Pavilion along the coast, sea air has often been good for architectural adventure. Backed by the ninth Earl de la Warr, the pavilion that bears his name is an entertainment venue designed by Erich Mendelsohn, a refugee from Nazi Germany, and Serge Chermayeff, who was born in Grozny. Both lingered in Britain for a few years before moving on to the United States. It's a bold and simple structure that balances the solid cube of its auditorium with the long, horizontal strips of its balconies, oriented to make the most of view, sun and fresh air. The pivot between its solid and open halves is the main stair, an open spiral set in a glass cylinder. Along with the spiral ramps that Berthold Lubetkin designed for London zoo's penguins, it is one of the great carefree moments of 1930s architecture, offering sheer pleasure in movement and light. Bexhill has not always taken its resident masterpiece to its heart, but thanks to the determined efforts of some local campaigners it's now in better shape than it has been for decades.