Hayle, Cornwall World Heritage Site Harbour Regeneration Scheme | Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

South Quay sits within the Devon and Cornwall Tin and Copper Mining World Heritage Site. In its heyday, Hayle was the only port serving the mining industry and thrived on the export of copper, tin and heavy industrial machinery to locations across the world. Since the decline of the Cornish mining industries, South Quay has lain derelict, despite a number of attempts to secure its future since the 1970s. In addition to the WHS context, the Grade 2 listed quay is adjacent to a SSSI and a scheduled ancient monument. Though within sight of St Ives bay, Hayle enjoys little of its neighbours bustling prosperity – it is assessed as falling within the most deprived quintile across the UK.

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios was appointed as Architect for the regeneration of South Quay in 2011, part-way through the determination of a planning application for a previous scheme: Cornwall County Council identified South Quay as being the optimum site for a new food store but made it clear that a fresh approach to design and heritage would be required to secure consent. We undertook an intensive programme of stakeholder engagement, orchestrating a series of day long workshops with officers, members of Cornwall County Council and Hayle Town Council, English Heritage and other interested parties and local groups. UNESCO and ICOMOS were also consulted.

Working closely with Stephen Levrant Heritage Architecture, we researched the history of the site and the town and identified the significance of the Victorian sluicing mechanism to Carnsew Pool as being a unique feature: Its reinstatement, which has been delivered as part of the first phase of works, will alleviate the need for costly dredging to keep the channel to open sea clear, assuring the future of the harbour’s small fishing fleet.

The masterplan for South Quay was developed with reference to earlier patterns of use on the site – the food store and the housing to the north, which will be delivered in a second phase of development, echo the linear form of the industrial sheds which once occupied the site. Dark water struck bricks make reference to the Scoria blocks typical of Hayle, whilst the brass cladding to the sculptural ‘hull’ of the food hall resonates with the site’s history of mining, manufacturing  shipbuilding and shipbreaking. Due to its location within a flood risk zone, development is set raised on a resilient concrete plinth which is treated as an integral part of the built fabric, creating a coherent solution for all of the contemporary interventions on the site. The faceted texture selected for the concrete references the timber revetments used historically to create slipways and edge the docks.

The listed quay has been repaired and restored and, for the first time in its history, opened to the public, providing a significant new amenity for residents and visitors. The Harbour which was owned by ING Red is transferring into public ownership in the form of a new Community Trust. The scheme introduced a World Heritage Site levy on this and all future development in the harbour area which will provide revenue funding to maintain and manage the harbour in perpetuity conserving this unique aspect of the World Heritage Site.

Further phases of development anticipated to start in 2015 will deliver additional retail space to the south and housing with a restaurant to the north end of the quay. FCBS has also assisted the Town Council in seeking Coastal Communities Funding for the regeneration of a listed building on East Quay to deliver office space and other facilities to support the fishing industry.