Bryanston Boat House

Location: Dorset
Year: 2011–2012
Client: Bryanston School
Value: £0.5m

Adams+Collingwood Architects were commissioned to design a new build riverside boathouse for Bryanston School’s rowing and canoe clubs that would blend into the leafy riverside landscape. Our innovative contemporary design was the most economic building we have delivered.

Our brief was to house the boats and canoes of the school rowing and canoe clubs while creating a building that blended in with the landscape and reflected the scale of the river.  In addition the school wanted a first floor viewing platform, clubroom and land training space. The site is regularly flooded and the building is designed on ‘Saddle Stools’ so as not to impede the flood waters.  The design uses the large areas of roof as geometric planes carefully composed into a sculptural form that draws the eye up from the open landscape to the first floor club room and training room which is at the buildings highest point. From the river the balcony dominates the view and is turned from the ground floor boat store grid to align with the river. The whole composition complimenting the idyllic setting. This building is an elegant and inspiring solution to a difficult brief.

Publications:
Bryanston Boat House features in our publication 25 Projects, celebrating our first 25 years of practice from 1992 to 2017. Find out more and read the book on our website here.

Awards:
Nominated for an RIBA Award 2013

If you would like to speak to our team about our education architecture experience, please get in touch.