The great British beach hut

4124 The great British beach hut

All over Britain, the beach hut is getting a stylish makeover. The most exciting place to find innovative huts right now is on the Lincolnshire coast, courtesy of the brilliant Bathing Beauties project.

4127 The great British beach hut

We featured the Bathing Beauties competition to ‘Re-imagine the Beach Hut for the 21st Century' last year on Been-Seen, and it's great to see five of the winning designs in place on the beach. All going well, they'll be available to rent in the spring.

4123 The great British beach hut

The huts include: Come Up And See Me by Bathing Beauties director Michael Trainor, inspired by a gin and tonic (above left), and the Mablethorpe Camera Obscura, based by Willett and Patteson on the popular Victorian attraction (above right).

4125 The great British beach hut

There's also Eyes Wide sHut by Feix and Merlin, a picture frame hut with a one-way mirror (second from top); Halcyon Hut by Atelier NU, made of western red cedar and acrylic panels to allow shafts of light to pass through it (above and below); and Jabba by i-am associates, a multi-colored contemporary cave (top).

4126 The great British beach hut

There's much more to come in 2009, and we'll keep you posted.

3864 The great British beach hut

But they're not the only designs making waves. Take this brilliantly simple beach chalet created by London-based designer Nina Tolstrup, aka Studiomama. Like most beach huts, it's small, but it manages to pack quite a lot into its 388 sq ft. A kitchen. A bathroom. A kids room, with bunk beds. And a mezzanine level, providing a sleeping platform for grown-ups. Perfect for lazing around on the seashore, day or night. RM

3863 The great British beach hut