Creating a world-class seafront that Brighton and Hove can be proud of

Many areas of Brighton and Hove are evolving rapidly as new development occurs. It feels, however, as if our unique seafront continues to languish as it has done for many decades. I cannot help but feel that a truly visionary masterplan is needed to restore its importance as a tourist destination.

I am sure the council recognises this, which is why it has supported the i360 financially. I am really excited by the i360 and hope it is the catalyst for change right along the seafront.

There are a number of other key sites that I would expect to see as part of any seafront masterplan:

The King Alfred Leisure Centre

The site should have a brief drawn up for a mixed-use scheme, with residential towers sitting above bars and restaurants - and with no sports centre. The council should then sell the site to a private developer on the open market and use the revenue generated to build a dedicated sports centre at a better location.

King's House

Another key site owned by the council. Again, it needs a planning brief. But I would suggest, when it is sold, the buildings are demolished and a new residential scheme with towers is built.

West Pier

I would love to see a new modern cultural pier on the seafront, something like a Brighton Guggenheim, designed by Frank Gehry; his Bilbao Guggenheim is magical. Our city desperately needs art gallery space and I would combine it with a hotel tower at the end, with its own landing dock for cruise-liners to visit.

Hilton Brighton Metropole and The Grand

Both of these hotels occupy huge sites on the seafront. I could see residential towers being built towards the rear of their sites.

The Brighton Centre and Odeon

It is tragic that we have two large - predominantly window-less - boxes occupying prime spots on the seafront. I would propose demolishing them both, building a new conference centre, with extensive quality office space, much-needed in Brighton. Ideally, there would be another residential tower.

Madeira Drive

The arches are falling apart and are significantly under-used. I would suggest that they are re-developed underneath the whole length to fund the repairs and provide art and music studios, office space, retail and cafes, to bring life to that area of the seafront.

Eastern seafront, including Peter Pan's playground

Sadly, another area that is not what you would expect of a unique seafront. I say build a park along the full length, linking Brighton Pier to Black Rock. I would also suggest a proper headquarters, with facilities for all the events held here each year.

Black Rock

This is another tragedy. Gone is the lido, but perhaps we need another swimming pool here. Could the council take the money from the sale of other sites and develop the new "King Alfred" sports complex here?

Finally, transport. There have been various proposals for monorails, but I do not feel that this is the right approach. Monorails have an infrastructure that is often unsightly and they are inherently inflexible and hard to adjust for peak and off-peak times. I recently visited Edinburgh and was impressed by the new trams. I would like to see a similar system in Brighton and Hove, linking the marina right through to Shoreham - and, ideally, off into new suburbs on the city fringe.

So these are my headline thoughts. I am sure not everyone will agree with all of the towers, but it is likely the new Brighton Marina Tower will be the first of many, as we endeavour to solve the severe lack of housing in our city.

[box type="info"]

Andy Parsons founded Yelo Architects, the Brighton-based architectural practice, in 2010.

Follow: @yeloarchitects. For more information, visit: www.yeloarchitects.com