UK Sailing Academy

UK Sailing Academy (UKSA) is a youth charity offering development programmes for disadvantaged young people and professional maritime training courses. To celebrate their 30th year of operation, they are investing £3m to upgrade their existing facilities and increase capacity to allow more people to benefit from their courses.

The existing site accommodates a number of tired and poorly maintained buildings which provide a mix of uses: residential; educational; office; and amenity. Site access is poor and currently all visitors have to travel down a steep driveway to get to the reception and teaching facilities on the waterfront.

The proposed scheme will be delivered in two phases to enable UKSA to stay operational and raise funds for the project. The initial phase includes the demolition of the Ark Royal building which will be replaced by a new L-shaped accommodation block. The reception area will be relocated from the rear of the site to the front of the new building, significantly improving the sense of arrival and enhancing security. A new lift connecting the upper and lower parts of the site will improve accessibility and pedestrian flow through the site.

The layout of the existing Arc Royal building is inefficient and poses safeguarding issues. Dormitories are indivisible and shower facilities are communal which has meant that UKSA cannot accommodate more than one group in each accommodation block. This has resulted in reduced occupancy rates and has meant that fewer people can benefit from the programmes.

In order to provide flexible, high-performing accommodation, we have segmented the building into clusters of flats with their own secure points of entry. The rooms can accommodate from 1 to 4 people and adaptability is achieved through the use of pull-down beds and through fixed units which offer both storage and privacy.