The Challenge:
First designed back in 2013 and opened to the public in July 2018, the Chapel St Leonards attraction offers all-year-round facilities for families and those enjoying a quiet walk along the beach.
The building includes information and exhibitions on the local area's rich natural history, an art space, a café and public toilets, and serves as an impressive gateway to the Coastal Country Park.
The Solution:
Few people know about, or have witnessed, the passage of the thousands of birds from all around the world (Greenland, Iceland, Arctic, Siberia, North and South America etc) that migrate along the Lincolnshire coastline in spring, autumn and early winter.
The Observatory is something unique as there are no purpose designed marine observatories anywhere else in the United Kingdom.
The Impact:
The North Sea Observatory was funded by Lincolnshire County Council, the Coastal Communities Fund, the Arts Council England and RDPE LEADER Coastal Action Zone.
" The shortlisting of Kier's DaBS team is fantastic news and demonstrates their exceptional design talent, ability to excel in the use of space and exceed the brief, while focussing on the promotion of the client and the community. "Leigh Thomas Executive Director Kier Property
View more projects
Every project we deliver is an opportunity for us to bring our unique thinking to solve problems, innovate and collaborate with our clients and beyond.
Butlin’s Splash, Bognor Regis
Building a £40m state of the art swimming pool and leisure complex within the existing Butlin’s resort in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.
Trago Mills
Developing the first site outside Devon and Cornwall for Trago Mills, an independent, family owned and run discount leisure retailer. Bringing much needed employment to the area it includes 11 retail units, external sales area, café, garden centre, goods yard, ice cream stall, bandstand, adventure dome and model railway.
Network Rail Burnt House and Three Horse Shoes crossing upgrades
The design, installation and commissioning required for the upgrade of four level crossings in Burnt House Drove and Three Horseshoes.
Congresbury Yeo tidal defences
Kier worked as part of Team Van Ord (TVO) to improve the standard of protection provided to 39,741 properties in the towns and villages of Worle, Weston-Super-Mare, Kingston Seymour and Wick St Lawrence by improving the 3670m of earth bank tidal defences lining the Congresbury Yeo Estuary.
St Sidwells Point Leisure Centre
Creating the UK’s first Passivhaus standard ultra-low carbon leisure centre, designed to save up to 70% on annual energy costs.
The Steart Coastal Management Project
Kier worked as part of Team Van Ord (TVO) on The Steart Coastal Management Project which was the UK’s largest coastal management scheme, helping to protect homes and business from flooding due to climate change and rising sea levels.
Aerospace Bristol
Creating a new £19m aviation museum showcasing the role played by the Bristol site in Britain’s aviation history, including a hangar to house the last Concorde ever to fly, restoring a Grade 1 listed First World War hangar to create an exhibition space
5 Pancras Square
One of the most sustainable mixed-use building in the country and winner of the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building award.
Everards Meadows Phase 1A
Creating a vibrant destination in Leicestershire, incorporating a new cycle centre and cafe as well as site-wide green infrastructure.
Storyhouse
Developing Chester's largest and most ambitious ever creative project, working in a restricted city centre location, adapting the programme when a Roman building was discovered on site, restoring and revitalising a Grade II Listed building, creating new cultural spaces and receiving the Arts Council's highest ever score for a building.
Chesterfield Borough Council partnership
Utilising assets and facilities management to enable Chesterfield Borough Council to generate significant annual rent to fund services.
Everards Meadows Phase 1B
Working collaboratively with Everards to regenerate land previously occupied by their brewing facilities, for the benefit of the people of Leicestershire.
Cheltenham Racecourse Redevelopment
Delivering a new 6,500-capacity 5 ½ storey grandstand at one Britain’s most iconic racecourses.
North Sea Observatory
A unique purpose-built marine observatory on the Lincolnshire coastline.
Stolford Flood Defence Scheme
Kier installs first Dutch flood protection system in UK to help Environment Agency protect Somerset homes and agricultural land.
Aberdeen Music Hall
Restoring, renovating and extending this prestigious Grade A listed performing arts building, utilising building conservation techniques whilst internally upgrading the interiors and finishes to a high quality and installing new, modern building services and a/v equipment throughout.
Reading Gateway
Identifying this 20.5 acre site in Reading as a strategic development opportunity, delivering a retail and leisure scheme including new homes, a hotel, retail space, car showrooms and industrial units, trailing new innovations and generating 263 jobs and £138m of social value.
FA Parklife
As part of the Football Association’s master-plan to build new football facilities in 30 cities by 2020, Kier have successfully delivered four all-purpose football hubs using state of the art 3G artificial grass at key grass-root areas across Liverpool.
The Aperture
The Aperture is the first phase of residential buildings on the Greenwich Peninsula. This five storey building comprises of a restaurant and deli on the ground floor, day nursery on the first floor, estate management and a community centre on the second/third floors with a gym on the remaining floors.
Hampton by Hilton, Bristol Airport
The construction of a hotel consisting of 201 bedrooms over four floors, utilising significant offsite manufacture.
St Mary’s Harbour
Kier used our marine expertise to undertake improvement works to St Mary’s Harbour on the Isles of Scilly, located within areas of national and international environmental and ecological protection.
Waterside Student Residences
A joint venture with Kier Major Projects for the University of Northampton. The project marked the first time Kier had committed to a large-scale Light Gauge Steel (LGS) frame project and is the largest LGS project to date in the UK.
Sheffield North Active
Transforming a tired council facility into a modern new leisure centre in the north of Sheffield, adhering to Sport England guidelines and taking on board local concerns, introducing a bold exterior design and keeping to tight deadlines.
Glasgow Fort
Constructing a new retail unit that included remodelling existing car parks, a major re-alignment of the existing spine road - including removal of roundabouts - significant public utility services diversions and installation of toucan crossings.
Pipe Bridge Remediation Scheme
Working with Severn Trent Water (STW) to deliver the pipe remediation scheme, monitoring pipes carrying sewage around bridge sites.
Walsall Waterfront Leisure
Completing the penultimate phase of the £65m waterfront development, taking it through the planning process, regenerating over 17 acres in Walsall including The Light Cinema and popular national restaurant chains, making the most of a canalised location and engaging with the local community.
Watford Riverwell
Delivering the £450m Watford Riverwell as a 15-20 year joint venture with Watford Borough Council, which involves regenerating 70 acres of land in West Watford to create residential, office, retail, leisure, industrial and hotel space.
West Burton CCGT Power Station
Kier was selected to construct a new 1,300MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power station at West Burton, Nottinghamshire. The site is adjacent to the River Trent and the existing coal fired power station.
Camberley Town Centre
Create a mixed-use regeneration scheme on this strategic site.
Princes Gate Retail Park
Creating a new retail and leisure heart for the town comprising 23 shops, restaurants and bars, together with a multi-screen Empire cinema, 60 bed Premier Inn hotel and a 345 space car park.
Motel One
Transforming a derelict building into a 172 bedroom modern boutique hotel, retaining and preserving many historic features uncovered during the work.
Manor Kingsway
Transforming the former Manor and Kingsway Hospitals situated 1.5 miles west of Derby city centre, creating a diverse and thriving community of 700 homes with recreational facilities, retail space and a business park to create 450 jobs.
Ingoldmells Sewage Treatment Works
Repairing the roof of the Ingoldmells sludge treatment building, using an alternative solution to improve efficiency and reduce cost.
Gibraltar Point Visitor Centre
Creating a new visitor centre at this Site of Special Scientific Interest after the previous one was damaged by a tidal surge, ensuring its protection from flooding and its coastal position, incorporating sustainable features and refurbishing an 1800s coastguard building to be used as an exhibition space.
Hopewood Campus
Creating a purpose-built facility for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and Perinatal Services. Providing support for adolescents, pregnant women, and women with a babies up to one year old who are experiencing mental health difficulties.
Keelby STW sludge holding tank lining
Kier's innovative water solution maintained a communities vital asset and reduced costs for the client.
Finlake Leisure Pool
Designing and constructing a new leisure complex within this holiday village on the edge of the Dartmoor National Park in Devon, including toddler and 20m adult swimming pools, Tornado and Twister flume rides, and water playground, gymnasium, other leisure facilities and associated plant and equipment.
Elland Bridge Refurbishment
Rebuilding the Elland Bridge after the 19th century original was completely destroyed in the 2015 Boxing Day floods.
Crewe Lifestyle Centre
Creating a viable and affordable facility that brought all Crewe's lifestyle services - pool, gym, sports hall, library, specialist daycare and family service facilities - together under one roof, meeting a diverse range of user needs and building within a constrained town centre site.
Oldham Town Hall
Restoring an iconic building, taking part in feasibility studies to decide the best use of the building, working on the project to turn it into a seven-screen cinema with restaurants, coffee shop and retail units, winning multiple industry awards and creating something of huge importance to local people.
Wedge House
Building a striking new build boutique hotel with works comprising the design, construction and fit out of 192 hotel rooms, 4,700m2 Cat A office space and full fit out of three floors of bars and restaurants.
HMP Five Wells
The new prison at Wellingborough will be an adult male Category C resettlement prison, designed to enhance rehabilitation. The project is embracing a Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) and integrating digital tools to drive efficiencies in the design, construction and operation of the facility.
Hawthorne Primary and Nursery School
A modern primary school in Bestwood, Nottinghamshire, for an expanding local community that involved pupils throughout the build delivered through the Scape Minor Works Framework by Kier and Arc Partnership
Toddbrook Reservoir Spillway Emergency Response
Emergency response to prevent the failure of the auxiliary spillway at Toddbrook Reservoir, Whaley Bridge.
Loe Bar Outfall Winter Readiness
Replacing eroded concrete along a 40m length of Loe Bar Outfall by spraying concrete on the front and top face of the outfall and around the inspection chamber. The works had to be completed by the end of October 2020.
Helston (River Cober) Flood Alleviation Scheme
The development of a CL:AIRE Materials Management Plan (MMP), enabled the use of soils, which would normally be classified as waste, from a local development site within flood banks on the Helston (River Cober) Flood Alleviation Scheme, Helston, West Cornwall.
Ponteland School & Leisure Centre
Ponteland School & Leisure Centre features a 420-place primary school and a 1,600-place secondary school, a state-of-the-art leisure centre with swimming pools, aqua play, spa, gym, climbing walls, dance studios, soft play zone, a 3G sports pitch, bar, cafés, library and a new community fire station.