A building designed to serve two purposes: Olympic venue, then junior school.
The Chesil Cove project is a new architecturally sensitive building constructed for Dorset County Council's Education Department on a prominent coastal site. Its initial use, however, was as an administration and operations centre for the London 2012 Olympic sailing events hosted at the nearby Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy.
Following the games, the building was partially modified for its long-term purpose as a junior school. This dual-use requirement meant the fire protection design had to accommodate both operational profiles from the outset - a venue management centre handling high-volume public events, and a school protecting children on a daily basis.
Detailed sprinkler design coordinated with architectural detailing and building services.
Osborn Associates provided the detailed design for the school's fire-fighting sprinkler systems, carefully coordinated with the architectural detailing and building services systems. The company produced a full set of coordinated CAD design drawings and a written specification, managing the technical aspects of contractor appointments and providing technical supervision of the installation works.
Regular design meetings and site visits ensured the installation met both the design intent and the exacting standards of the Council's in-house architects' department. The project was delivered under Osborn Associates' term contract appointment with Dorset County Council.
Satisfying architectural sensitivity while delivering to an Olympic deadline.
The building sits on a sensitive coastal site where architectural quality was paramount. The sprinkler system needed to be fully integrated with the building's design language without compromising the clean lines and considered detailing that the Council's architects had developed. Close design control and ongoing collaboration with the in-house team were essential throughout.
Value engineering the fire protection systems while maintaining compliance and the correct interfaces between systems added further complexity. And underpinning everything was the immovable deadline of the Olympic sailing events - the building had to be operational and fully certified by March 2012, with no possibility of delay.
