ISG Modernises The Single-torey Central Boiler House Building At The Historic Dockyard Chatham

The new University of Kent development at The Historic Dockyard Chatham will house three of the School of Arts’ subject areas - Fine Art, Music & Audio, Performing Arts and Event & Experience Design, within five existing buildings. The development will revitalise an underused area of the dockyard and play an important role in preserving a number of historically important structures including a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II listed structure.

ISG has secured additional work at The Historic Dockyard Chatham, taking a £2 million project with the University of Kent to create new facilities for the School of Arts’ Medway development. This latest project follows ISG’s successful £2 million scheme to create the museum and cultural venue – No.1 Smithery - which displays and stores nationally important maritime collections from the National Maritime Museum and the Imperial war Museum.

ISG will comprehensively strip out, re-roof, modernise and extend the single-storey Central Boiler House building, which will be converted into a multi-purpose workshop. Facilities will include individual spray booths, a metal working and plaster casting room, a wood working machine shop, kiln and extraction room for glass fibre modelling. A new mezzanine level will be installed within the building providing additional learning space and office accommodation.

Within the Smithery, ISG will rationalise the existing accommodation to create a workshop, exhibition space and seminar area, installing a new mezzanine level to house additional studio space and administrative offices. The work to this Scheduled Ancient Monument will be carried out with great sensitivity and the building will retain all of its original features. The Engineering Workshop will be opened up to create performance space and studios with sprung timber floors and a state-of-the-art lighting rig for dance, theatre or performance art. The Workshop will also be re-roofed as part of the programme of refurbishment.

The Grade II listed Foundary building will house the Music & Audio department’s flagship recording studio. To minimise vibrations and enhance acoustic performance, an innovative jacked up floor slab will be used to isolate the studio from the rest of the building. Within the Dockyard’s two-storey Fire Station, ISG will create a Foley studio, for recreating everyday sounds for film making, a listening room and ensemble rehearsal space. An Electronica studio will also be created which will incorporate a host of vintage equipment. The project is due to commence in early June and is scheduled for completion in spring 2012.