This in from George on behalf of the Cowes RNLI. Ed
Cowes lifeboat station’s ‘show-piece’ reputation, already enhanced by being opened in 2012 by Her Majesty the Queen, has now been further boosted by a handsome plaque recognising the quality and ingenuity of its design.
The comprehensive conversion from its former role as a custom house has won a coveted Open Award for Excellence from the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists.
Technical excellence
The principal criteria for the award is that technical excellence is achieved through functionality, build ability, performance innovation and sustainability.
The citation described the conversion of an existing harbour-side building into a fully functional lifeboat station as an ‘extremely impressive example’ of how a project team overcame a number of technical and logistical issues.
Extensive re-modelling
CIAT technical vice-president, Kevin Crawford, recalled that access to the site and the physical layout of the building was restricted, necessitating extensive re-modelling.
He said,
“The new slipway and the boathouse were the cornerstone of this project.
“All of the works had to be carried out whilst respecting the structural constraints of the existing building and the fact that the site was in a conservation area.”
Furthermore the new lightweight steel slipway had to take account of high and low water spring tides.
“Commended”
Overall this was an innovative technical solution to an extremely complicated project which the judges unanimously agreed deserved a ‘Commended’ award.
Although news of the award was announced last November, the Cowes plaque has only now been officially presented at the station by the CIAT’s president, Karl Grace.
It was received by Julie Staunton, architectural technologist of Winchester-based Studio Four Architects Ltd, responsible for the station, who then passed it on to the station’s operations manager, Mark Southwell.
Image: (left to right) Mark Southwell, Karl Grace, Julie Staunton and Kevin Crawford
