THIS is the first picture of Pink Floyd star David Gilmour's plans for the historic Medina House.

Gilmour and his wife Polly Samson want to demolish the former bath house site on the Hove seafront and build this new luxury home.

Yesterday architects Pilbrow and Partners revealed their design for the building which will be constructed of handmade white brick, echoing the bath house's former look.

To the east of the main house, next to Marocco's, is a garden room for the family in what used to be the bath house's pool room.

Revealing the design to residents yesterday, architect Keb Garavito-Bruhn, from Pilbrow and Partners, said: "In designing it our aim was to capture some of that building’s whimsical Victorian charm and exuberance.

“The unique form of the southern gable and lost arched walls of the pool enclosure, are reinterpreted in the new building."

Developers say the building is beyond economic repair due to substantial damage caused by fire, neglect, subsidence and alterations, and that what is left is of little historical significance.

But the architects do plan to keep the historic Royal Doulton tiles in the arches surrounding what is left of the pool room.

It is expected the new home will be slightly higher than Medina House for structural reasons, but not as much as the 3.7m previously suggested.

The design has been broadly welcomed locally although many residents have questioned whether the building needs to be demolished.

Roger Amerena, from the Brighton and Hove Heritage Commission, said: "The concept is admirable, and the treatment to what was the pool room is also appropriate.

"I think there could be a way to preserve the building - if you can move lighthouses back off the edge of a cliff to save the building, surely something can be done with this. The building is historic in so far as it highlights where the swimming pool complex was."

He added that even if the existing building could not be saved, there was more that could be done to echo the original, including more detail on the front and west side.

Developers hope to submit plans within weeks with potential work to start at the earliest by the end of the year.