UKSA Sea Change Building
Project : UKSA Sea Change Building
Role – Principle Contractor
Client – UKSA, Artic Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight
Contract start date February 2021
Completion date August 2022
Form of contract JCT Design & Build 2016
The UKSA is a national maritime charity, based in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, that provides maritime training designed to enhance life skills and employment in the sector. UKSA was founded in 1987 by Noel and Sylvia Lister, who wanted to use sailing and water sports to educate and enrich the lives of young people. Over the years the site and the business have grown substantially and by 2020 additional boarding accommodation was required.
Imaginative design was required to provide space for the new facilities, including demolition of a Victorian building and re-profiling of steep slopes on the site.
The design catered to the topography with a lower-level basement and stepped upper levels. Difficult and detailed design was required to accommodate slope stability, water proofing and flood risk, as the site is on the shore of the tidal River Medina.
Prior to demolition we also arranged for an intrusive WW2 ordnance survey to be carried out on the site.
Logistics and site constraints on this site were a substantial part of the project management as the site remained open for student training throughout, with all deliveries to and waste collections from the UKSA made through the site working area. The site manager, Mr Jim Benfield, therefore had to manage third party deliveries, whilst maintaining security and safeguarding throughout the project.
To accommodate all the perceived risks at ground level, we constructed a basement in traditional masonry, but the team elected for a timber frame superstructure, harnessing the design and manufacturing capabilities of local firm, Sydenham’s Timber Engineering Ltd. By keeping the supply chain as short as possible on this technically demanding project, it was felt that enhanced delivery realisations could be achieved.
Stoneham Construction have worked with Sydenham’s over many years, delivering large complex buildings to client requirements, and we were able to pass on these benefits to UKSA.
Timber frame construction brings with it a number challenges that had to be overcome to meet the prescriptive client and regulatory requirements. These include noise transference between rooms, fire resistance, and spatial security arrangements, that required secure isolation of parts of the building when not in use.
Integrating the security, fire detection and alarm systems with the existing campus facilities also raised issues to be overcome by the team.
The finished building was officially opened on 26th July by
HRH Princess Anne