Tyrells Marine, Huntingdonshire

Delivering High-Quality Homes and Community Space on a Sensitive Waterfront Site

Allan Joyce Architects were appointed to design a new residential development on the site of a former boatyard within a Conservation Area. The scheme delivers 16 high-quality waterfront homes alongside a new café, creating a mixed-use development that responds to the site's unique setting while providing a new community focus for residents and the wider area.

Unlocking a Challenging Site

The project involved transforming a constrained riverside site surrounded by significant physical and heritage considerations. Bounded by the River Great Ouse, an historic scheduled monument bridge and the former A14 bridge structure, the site required a carefully considered design approach to overcome spatial and environmental challenges.

From the outset, the design process considered the site's constraints to create an efficient and deliverable scheme. The development has been carefully raised above flood levels, incorporating an undercroft that provides flood storage capacity while enabling the site to be used effectively.

Creating a New Waterfront Community

The development comprises eight houses and two apartment buildings positioned to maximise the site's waterfront setting. A café forms an important part of the scheme, providing a shared amenity for residents while creating a destination that contributes positively to the wider community.

The layout has been designed around the relationship between buildings, landscape and river views, creating homes that make the most of their unique location. Large glazed gable ends and carefully positioned façades provide strong connections to the waterfront, enhancing the quality of the living environment.

Responding to Heritage and Context

The former boatyard use of the site provided an important influence on the architectural approach. The building forms, materials and detailing draw inspiration from the site's maritime history while adopting a contemporary architectural language.

A combination of considered massing, stepped façades and carefully selected cladding materials creates a development that sits comfortably within its historic surroundings while establishing a distinctive identity of its own.

Our Role

Allan Joyce Architects developed a design solution that balances the opportunities and challenges of a highly constrained waterfront location. Through careful consideration of flood risk, heritage, planning requirements and placemaking, the scheme demonstrates how sensitive sites can be successfully transformed into high-quality residential developments.

Our experience in delivering residential projects within Conservation Areas and challenging locations enables us to help clients unlock complex sites through thoughtful, context-led design.