A recent trip to Suffolk only allowed me to explore some recent – and some older – architectural developments in this very beautiful corner of England.

A short walk from where we were staying was the Dune House, designed by Norwegian practice Jarmund/Vigsnæs Architects for Living Architecture. Located on the beach at eccentric holiday village Thorpeness, it sits rather oddly alongside its more ramshackle neighbours. Yet head down the steeply-sloping shingle to the water’s edge, and the roof appears strikingly as part of the landscape.

I’m not sure how much I would want to stay there – the fully-glazed ground floor is rather like a goldfish bowl – but I don’t think I’ll ever get the chance. It’s fully booked until the end of next year, and unless you manage to fill it to the brim with nine guests it works out to be an expensive holiday. In any case, I think I preferred the ad hoc craziness of its plotland neighbours.

Living Architecture’s mission is to offer the chance for ordinary mortals to experience contemporary architecture while on holiday. It’s billed as a social enterprise and features Alain de Botton as its creative director (nuff said). But when the accommodation starts at £657 for a four night break (I guess that’s out-of-season) then unless you max out the number of people staying it becomes a holiday for the well-off. Particularly those who don’t mind communal vacations with lots of other friends and family. If you want a romantic week away
à deux then be prepared to splash the cash and rattle around in a building that is several sizes too big for you.

Apart from the tiny tug boat perched precariously on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank, Living Architecture’s portfolio is one of substantial holiday homes, sleeping eight or more. It would be great to see smaller properties – or perhaps apartment developments – added to the portfolio in future, allowing smaller groups to experience work by world-leading contemporary architects at a sensible price.

There’s no escaping that the roll call of architects is impressive – Peter Zumthor is designing the forthcoming ‘Secular Retreat’ which opens in Devon in 2014.  And delivering such striking one-off contemporary buildings in the UK is no mean feat.

A short drive away is Snape Maltings. And despite its truly middle class outlook – the Home & Garden shop is a deafening chatter of polka dots, shabby chic and duck egg blue – it is a place open to everyone to experience some seriously fine contemporary architecture.

Redevelopment of the former maltings continues apace, and I really loved one of the lastest additions. The Dovecote Studio, designed by architect Haworth Tompkins, has been built within the derelict walls of an existing Victorian structure. Constructed from Cor-Ten weathering steel, it has taken on a gorgeous rusty patina. It is part of Haworth Tompkins’ phased extension of the ‘campus’ at Snape, which was founded by Benjamin Britten. Check out the project description on the architect’s website, as there is a great shot of the steel structure being craned into position.

However, I think my favourite trip was to Sizewell. The tiny village and bleak expanse of windswept shingle and grassy dunes are dominated by two nuclear power stations. Sizewell A is a brooding piece of brutalism whose consultant architect was Sir Frederick Gibberd, and is in the process of being decommissioned. Sizewell B opened in 1995 and is more of a case study in how to try to disguise a nuclear power station, with its blue walls and white dome that in certain light almost disappear against the sky. The architect on this job was YRM.

With the fisherman’s sheds and boats, not to mention the rusting offshore water intake and outtake structures for Sizewell A, the overall effect is sinister, powerful and weird. A bit like Dungeness without the holiday cabins, crazy pub or miniature railway, but with similar radiation levels. It’s a world away from the polite cafés, galleries and boutiques of nearby Aldeburgh or Southwold.