Ramsgate not-for-profit Heritage Lab Ramsgate plans to renovate and refurbish the historic East Cliff shelters for a variety of uses, and is asking the public for their views and ideas.
Heritage Lab Ramsgate has agreed to take a 20-year lease from Thanet District Council to redevelop eight Art Deco shelters on Ramsgate’s East Cliff lower promenade.
The shelters were built in 1936 as part of an ambitious Ramsgate Borough Council project for a new undercliff promenade and Chine steps along the East Cliff, linking the newly opened Marina Bathing Pool and Boating Lake with the clifftop Winterstoke Gardens.
Looking directly out to sea, the shelters – which are roughly 6m by 2m in size – show some hallmarks of late Art Deco design and are spread on either side of the Pulhamite steps below Winterstoke Gardens.
Heritage Lab Ramsgate intends to redevelop the shelters to form a mixture of spaces that the public and visitors can enjoy for years to come, and is seeking to engage with the local community over their potential future uses. It hopes to have the shelters open for the summer 2026 season.
Proposals for the shelters include a food and drinks outlet, a sauna, water sports and fishing facilities, beach huts, a community and educational space or art space.
One of the shelters will be restored to its original purpose with seated benches and information on the history of the area. Heritage Lab Ramsgate intends to connect power, water and waste services.
The organisation is launching an online consultation where people can share their views and ideas about how the shelters can best be used in future, which can be found here.
Heritage Lab Ramsgate will also have a stall at the POW in the Park event in Ellington Park on Saturday 21 June, and welcomes people to come along to find out more and give their views.
Rob Kenyon, CEO of Heritage Lab CIC, said: “We are excited to be able to kick start this new project thanks to a viability grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund, which will help to pay for the research, design and early development costs.
“The project epitomises our ambition to develop curiously creative spaces, and we hope that this will help the regeneration of the East Cliff area and Ramsgate more widely.”
Kelcey Wilson-Lee, head of programmes & deputy CEO, Architectural Heritage Fund, added: “We’re delighted to be supporting Heritage Lab, one of our Heritage Development Trusts, with a viability grant to investigate how best to repurpose these quirky Art Deco Shelters to support local cultural engagement.
“The Grade II-listed Pulhamiterock garden into which these shelters are built is part of Ramsgate’s rich architectural heritage, and we are so pleased to see Heritage Lab leading efforts to secure a resilient future for the site.”
A short video about the project can be found here.
