COMMAND OF THE OCEANS | BAYNES AND MITCHELL ARCHITECTS
The Historic Dockyard in Chatham, Kent, UK
Project description provided by the architect. Command of the Oceans is a heritage landscape and scheduled monument conservation and re-use project that includes a significant new build element. It unlocks the potential of the unique historic buildings on this extraordinary dockyard site that allows them to be used as 21st-century visitor facilities and galleries.
The project enables the story of the most complete dockyard of the age of sail to be fully told for the first time. Works comprise the preservation, display and interpretation of the Namur, ‘the ship beneath the floor’ uncovered by chance in 1995; the preservation of mast-making monuments including the Mast House and Mould Loft, the Mast Ponds and their related external landscape; initial orientation of Chatham’s wider naval and military heritage, the creation of orientation and interpretation galleries; and the resolution of visitor welcome and hospitality services.
The Project
In 1995 the structural remains of an unknown ship were revealed hidden beneath several layers of floorboards within one of the 47 Scheduled Ancient Monuments at the Dockyard. The extent of the remains was hailed at the time as the most significant naval archaeological discovery since that of the Mary Rose. Subsequently identified as a large portion of the hull and deck timbers from the Namur, a historically remarkable second-rate ship of the line launched at Chatham in 1756, the timbers became the focal point for a new, site-wide grant-funded project, proposed by Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust – a project exploring the significance of the ship and her place within the story of the wider dockyard and its landscape. The £9m project has been made possible with support from a £4.8m grant from Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), as well as the generous support of Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), and individuals, Trusts and Foundations.
Baynes and Mitchell Architects’ response
Baynes and Mitchell Architects, working closely with the client and Historic England, developed a specific and unified approach to working with both the dockyard buildings and the wider industrial landscape of the site – unique historic elements are revealed wherever possible, repaired where necessary and new elements added to enable contemporary uses and clear interpretation.
At the heart of the Command of the Oceans project, Baynes and Mitchell Architects have inserted a striking new building into the long, thin gap between two existing Scheduled Ancient Monuments. The building forms a new entrance and circulation hub connecting visitor hospitality areas with new gallery spaces and access to a new sunken gallery space at a level where visitors are able to view the entire collection of the timbers forming ‘the ship beneath the floor.’
The adjacent Scheduled Ancient Monument buildings, the Mast House and Mould Loft and the Wheelwrights’ shop, have been renovated and adapted to form gallery, catering and retail spaces. The profile of the new building links the sawtooth ridgelines of both these existing, adjacent buildings – mirroring circulation routes inside. The new building rises above those on either side and is formed in black zinc, creating a marked contrast to the bright white lapped boards of the surrounding buildings.
Externally, new pedestrian routes have been introduced into the large area of public realm to the north and south. These routes spread out from the core of the new entrance building and reinforce the previously hidden alignment of the long-since back-filled South Mast Pond and other significant features of the historic landscape. Areas of car-parking have been re-shaped and renovated and, wherever possible, remnants of the historic mast making processes have been revealed. The most significant of these is the excavation of Brunel Canal at its intersection with the South Mast Pond, buried over a hundred years ago with rubble and debris and now refurbished and to be used as a carpark.
A small palette of materials mainly consisting of black metal, black limestone, board-marked concrete and composite timber has been used throughout the project – materials which respond robustly to the strong, industrial language of the existing Historic Dockyard Chatham buildings and landscape.
The Exhibition
Baynes and Mitchell Architects worked closely with Land Design Studio, resulting in a clear and definite interweaving of architectural and exhibition design. The completed exhibition has resulted in the fabric of the landscape, the existing buildings and new additions, themselves all becoming key to revealing the processes which created the Namur, the Dockyard and British Naval and trade dominance in the age of sail.
Watch 360 Degree Footage In This Tour of the Building Below
Command of the Oceans
Credit: www.videointeract.co.
Project Team:
Architects: Baynes and Mitchell Architects
Project manager: Artelia UK
Structural and civil engineer: Price & Myers
Building environment and services engineers: Skelly & Couch
Experiential designer: Land Design Studio
Media production: ISO Design
Cost consultant: Bob Dollin
Conservation architect: Ptolemy Dean
Client: Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust (CHDT)
Photos: Hélène Binet
Location: Chatham, Kent, UK
The Historic Dockyard Chatham website: thedockyard.co.uk/
Architects’ website: www.baynesandmitchell.co.uk/
Twitter: twitter.com/BaynesMitchell
Instagram: instagram.com/baynesandmitchellarchitects/
Total project value: £9m
Awards:
RIBA Stirling Prize Shortlist 2017
RIBA National Award
RIBA South East Award, Building of the Year
RIBA South East Award, Conservation Award
RIBA South East Award, Regional Award
Civic Trust Award Winner 2018
Wood Award (Commercial and Leisure)
Medway Design and Development Award (Conservation)
Kent Design and Development Award (Conservation)
