Soho House gets green light for Brighton seafront development

By Sophie Witts & James Wallin

- Last updated on GMT

Soho House gets green light for Brighton seafront development

Related tags Soho house Brighton and hove

Plans for a Soho House development on Brighton seafront including Dirty Burger, Chicken Shop and Pizza East restaurants have been approved.

The scheme will see seven vacant units torn down and replaced by two ‘art-deco’ buildings - one housing a series of cafes, takeaways and restaurants, with the other given over to Soho House.

The planning application said the development would improve the ‘characteristically drab and uninteresting design’ of the Madiera Drive site – which sits opposite Brighton’s East Pier and above the city’s Sealife Centre.

The Soho House private members club will be located on the roof and feature a sun deck, one metre plunge pool, outdoor bar and a currently unnamed fish restaurant.

The Brighton­-based Gingerman Group is one of those due to go into the parallel food complex with its seafood­-based Ginger Fish restaurant.

Gingerman co-­founder Ben Mckellar told BigHospitality’s sister publication M&C Allegra Foodservice​: “It’s been a long, long battle but the hard work starts now.

“I’m really pleased we’ve got to this point because I think this is going to be a real draw for Brighton. Soho House is synonymous with London, Berlin and New York. To have Brighton in that exclusive list is a real coup.

“All I can say is that I hope we can be a part of it and we’ll be working very hard to make that a reality.”

The planning committee of Brighton and Hove City Council took almost two hours to discuss and decide upon the application last night, coming to a seven­-four split decision in favour of the project.

Residents had complained about the loss of sea views, and questioned whether the developers’ plans correctly estimated the final height of the buildings allowing for rooftop gardens and machinery.

According to The Argus​, one of the committee members Councillor Carol Theobald said: “What’s there now is an eye­sore, Soho House are a very established company with branches all over the world so this would regenerate a very neglected area."

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