Tracey Emin to Bring Art, Ice Cream and Saunas to the British Seaside

Tracey Emin’s £4 million plans to transform a derelict pavilion at a British seaside resort into an arts and culture hub have been given the go-ahead by local authorities.

The 1,050 sq m Westbrook Loggia in Margate, once an Edwardian bathing spot, is expected to host artists’ studios, galleries, community events and spaces, a café, a restaurant—and even saunas and an ice-cream hatch. The venture, led by Emin’s charitable foundation, deepens the artist’s connection to the Kent town where she lived until the age of 15 and where she has had a considerable impact on the local cultural landscape since returning in 2017.

Discussing the project on Instagram, the artist wrote: “It’s taken a long time but now it’s actually happening… it’s not just for art-lovers, but also cold-water sea-swimmers, dog-walkers, beach-lovers… And for all of us that want to see an old building beautifully restored.”

Drawn up by London-based practice Waugh Thistelton Architects, plans for the 1910 building will reinstate several lost architectural features, including its distinctive rooftop belvederes, which once offered bathers views of the surrounding beach.

According to the plans, the building’s ground floor will be largely dedicated to public facilities, but will also include three large private art studios to accommodate artists-in-residence from The Tracey Emin Foundation. The free, 15-month residency is currently based at the nearby TKE Studios, launched by Emin as a “revolutionary” art school in 2023, and culminates in an exhibition curated by Emin herself.

The pavilion’s upper floor will host two large art galleries, which are set to present both temporary and permanent installations, and are intended to “continue Margate’s reputation as a world-class art destination”. Despite several concerns from local residents regarding possible noise, smoking and antisocial behaviour, the building’s rooftop will also be redeveloped into a public space.

Emin first confirmed plans to purchase Westbrook Loggia at the launch of TKE Studios in 2023, two years after the building shuttered. In August of the same year, the artist paid the local council £800,000 for the rundown building, adding to her existing investment in the local area.

She previously spent approximately £2 million purchasing and renovating a former Edwardian bathhouse, mortuary and children’s nursery to create TKE Studios, with an additional £2.3 million raised for the project through the sale of her 2022 work Like a Cloud of Blood at Christie’s. Emin also owns several residential flats in the area, rented to TKE residency artists at a subsidised rate. 

Discussing her commitment to Margate at the launch of the studios in 2023, the artist said: “Wherever the arts go, commerce follows, except this time we got here first and we’ve nailed it… Margate is ours; it’s our town, it’s our creative Mecca and we are going to make it more creative and more available for creative people to live here.”

Today the town is indeed a creative haven, home to the Turner Contemporary and a host of smaller galleries, including Carl Freedman, Quench Gallery and Pie Factory. However, it seems that Emin’s mission to bring art to her seaside hometown is far from complete.