Ilfracombe Watersports Centre

HOP carried out the initial schemes for a new reclamation, seawall and slipway at Ilfracombe Water Sports Centre. Having secured lottery funding, North Devon Council (NDC) appointed HOP to help them deliver this fantastic project to relocate community water sports groups into a new building.

HOP were then instructed to design a new seawall and slipway through to Tender, and then during Construction. Both structures were designed to be constructed off-site using prefabricated reinforced concrete units, this was chosen to aid the installation work in a difficult tidal environment.

Our Director, Tristan Banks, has led this project from the outset overseeing the design of the new seawall and slipway.  The project was sited in a natural, rocky cove and has incorporated several mitigation measures to improve and promote biodiversity. The focus on biodiversity required careful attention to be given to the design of surface finishes, which were chosen to promote marine growth. The seawall is comprised of niches and rockpools to provide a new habitat for molluscs, urchins and lichens.