A historic pier in East Sussex that was devastated by fire has won the UK’s most prestigious architecture award — the 2017 RIBA Stirling Prize — after a multi-million pound redevelopment. Nicknamed the Plank, Hastings Pier is the work of London-based architects de Rijke Marsh Morgan. The pier reopened to the public last year, its restoration cost £14.2 million. RIBA president and jury chair Ben Derbyshire said Hastings Pier was a “masterpiece of regeneration and inspiration”. …Creative use of timber is at the heart of the transformed pier design. The new visitor centre is a 100 per cent cross-laminated timber structure, clad in the limited timber decking that survived the 2010 fire. This reclaimed timber was also used to make the furniture on the deck, designed by dRMM and Hastings & Bexhill Wood Recycling Ltd as part of a local employment initiative.