New Boathouse Planned Near Hartington Road

Sporting facilities on Quintin Boat Club site and surrounding land to be upgraded

Artist's impression of development

The Quintin Hogg Trust is currently bringing forward proposals for a redevelopment of the sporting facilities on the site of the Quintin Boat Club (QBC) and surrounding land south of Hartington Road.

Around 60-65 members of the public attended a consultation event at the Pavilion on the QHMF Sports Ground. The club hopes to submit the application in August.

Now almost 100 years old the Arts & Crafts style QBC Boat House, built to echo the form of its 1888 wooden predecessor, has reached the end of its life. The structure of the front part of the building facing the Thames is sound, but the fabric of the walls, roof and in particular the windows which form a large part of the elevations, are now in a severe state of disrepair.

The building is not listed, but is of local merit and stands as a landmark on the Thames. The rear part of the building was bombed during the war and poorly repaired thereafter, and is now in urgent need of repair to make it wind and water tight as well as addressing the issue of inclusive safe access.

The proposals retain the historic façade and clubroom, rebuilding over the ground floor boat storage to provide modern changing facilities.

The first phase of the masterplan is focused on the site south of Hartington Road fronting the River Thames expanding the opportunities for rowing, bringing back first class rugby to the site and creating a large studio space for the University, other student groups and young people. As the QBC club membership gets older so the next generation of rowers needs to be found. In order to best achieve this objective the club wishes to engage and support rowing at both private and state schools in the borough of Hounslow.

The increase in boat storage makes this viable, with an uplift of circa 200% in storage capacity needed to offer an outreach programme. The facilities for changing and training are no longer fit for purpose with the gym slipping in to the Thames. The proposals here offer new youth/senior change, gym, weights and rowing machine rooms, as well as large flexible sub-divisible boat storage. The whole layout will create a courtyard to secure the site.

The land next to Chiswick Bridge is now hardly used according to the proposers of the scheme. It was previously a rugby pitch for the University and the temporary home of London Welsh. The University has a successful Rugby squad, reaching the finals of The University Cup in 2018 but has nowhere to train and no home ground. A new home ground for the University on the site will provide a first class facility for the wider community through partnerships with local schools, many of whom already use Memorial Ground for other sports. There will be training pitches and fully accessible proper changing facilities.

A new gym within the rugby pavilion will provide a much better facility for both rowers and rugby players and will enable teams to train together. Clearly there are sensitive views across the site from Ibis Lane and from Chiswick Bridge, and the team say they have worked hard to develop an appropriate scale of development, massing and materiality have all been considered.

June 24, 2018