Featured Case Study - Princess Yachts

Reproduced by kind permission - AJ Specification - EMAP Communications, Images courtesy of Mitchell Architects

Princess Yachts in Millbay Dock, Plymouth, is one of the first projects to register for Confidex Sustain™. Commissioned by Princess Yachts International, Britain’s second largest luxury boat builder, the £6.5 million project is set for completion next year. It will provide both a deep-water construction facility and the headquarters of Princess Motor Yachts Sales.

‘It’s an unusual building,’ says Adrian Mitchell of Mitchell Architects who designed this project alongside a £3.6 million production building now completed at Plymouth’s Langage Business Park. ‘Princess Yachts needed a facility where they could work on boats that had already been launched into the water. It’s essentially a covered dock that can house four boats up to 35 metres long at any one time. It’s a floating canopy.’

The 2860m2 roof dominates the design of the building with it’s undulating form that mimics the shape of a wave. This not only helps to contextualise the building in its coastal setting, but also allows views across the roof to the sea beyond. Both the dock and the sales facility are enclosed under the canopy, which splits and drops down to meet the lower single story area. Steel and timber cladding as well as extensive glazing have been used to enclose the sales facility.

The steel frame and steel clad roof and walls are the major components of the design and Mitchell Architects worked closely with Corus and CA Group over a nine month period to ensure the specification of the most effective cladding. Colorcoat HPS200® has been specified in a Goosewing Grey colour for the roof and Wedgewood for the walls. ‘The project is located right next to the sea, where the salty air can cause rapid corrosion,’ says Mitchell. ‘The finish is therefore critical and we chose Colorcoat HPS200® because of the 30 year guarantee it provides. Even when you cut into the cladding it doesn’t rust, which is very important in a design like this where the cladding needs to be cut on site.’

Mitchell signed up for Confidex Sustain™ when he specified the cladding. He had been impressed by the scheme when he used it at the Princess Yachts Langage 3 project, a 6000m2 production building that has just been completed. ‘It really wasn’t any hassle at all,’ he says. ‘The move was initiated by us, rather than the clients but they expect us to do what’s right and as a practice we are very concerned about the environmental impact of our buildings. The minimal carbon footprint of the building also proved essential in getting the project through planning.’ Corus have calculated the carbon footprint at 213,856.2 kg, a hefty amount of carbon emissions. But thanks to Confidex Sustain™ every kg will be cancelled out through The CarbonNeutral Company’s offsetting schemes. ‘I’d recommend it to anyone,’ says Mitchell. ‘It’s straightforward, you’re getting a high quality product that has an impressively long guarantee and you are reducing the impact of your project on the planet.’ As Rodney Rice, product development manager for Corus Colors puts it, ‘it’s a no brainer.’