HUW JONES

2018, BA Architecture Year 2

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The brief of this project was to develop a watersports and community centre on the South coast of Hayling Island. The finished scheme comprised of a stunning flowing roof design, a large cafeteria with a focus on views to the sea, a naturally lit events/community space, changing rooms for watersports activities, kitchen & services, and a coordinated site plan that separated sports equipment hire from equipment collection.

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"The Hayling Island Visitor & Community Centre has been designed to reflect the changing nature of its site. The beach on the southern edge of Hayling Island is expected to erode over time, while sea levels are predicted to rise.
 

In designing this building, a scenario of extreme sea level rise was simulated using lidar digital terrain mapping data. The contours of the new haying Island beachfront at 3m, 4m and 5m of sea level rise were used directly in the design of the structure. This resulted in a dynamic and fluid roof design that improved through an iterative design process.

 

The form evokes a sense of movement, both reflecting the slow change of the site's geography as well as the movement of the sea. The choice of the primary structural system, glulam timber in a lattice formation, is vernacular in mirroring traditional British timber structures - updated using modern technology & construction techniques.

 

The development separates the main structure from the storage & handing out of watersports equipment due to the
distance from the main structure and the beach (approx 100m). visitors pay for equipment hire at the main structure, and then collect their equipment from the secondary buildings nearer the beach."