SIPs Bournemouth beach lodges scheme

Back in 2014, we were approached by Bournemouth Borough Council to discuss a potential market they had identified for overnight beach huts on their award-winning beachfront. A site was identified to the east of Boscombe pier and Bournemouth Borough Council released a tender for the design and construction of the overnight huts, both of which we won.

In May 2016, we were commissioned to design and build the 15 overnight lodges, one of which needed to cater for assisted living, meaning it is more accessible for less able-bodied users, and three of which needed to be dedicated dog-friendly units.

For this project, we needed to fully comply with current building control legislation, which meant the complexity of the design process was much more in-depth. Despite the restrictions these regulations impose, we managed to deliver a product that incorporated space-saving design at every turn.

High specification beach lodges

Each lodge sleeps six and contains a fully fitted solid wood kitchen with quartz worktops and a compact shower room that houses a shower cubicle, washbasin and toilet. The internal furniture of the lodges are CNC cut birch ply which has been used to create space-saving pull-out sofas and a table that can be removed and placed outside for al fresco dining.

These highly-insulated lodges are also heated and have double-glazed bi-fold doors, that span the entire front of the building for stunning panoramic views of the sea. All 15 lodges are also fully wired up with electricity and Wi-Fi and have heat and fire alarms, TVs, both inside and outside lights, as well as discreet reading lights by the beds.

The results

We exceeded our client’s expectations and delivered the project on time collecting a few awards along the way, including a silver award at the Dorset Tourism Awards. The venture has been a huge success for the council, attracting visitors from all corners of the globe and there are now plans to roll out similar projects across the country, perhaps the ultimate compliment.

Part of our ethos here at Ecologic is to continually grow and evolve into a better, more sustainably-minded building company. Since the success of the Bournemouth Beach Lodges, we have received more commissions from councils nationwide. Our specialist expertise in this sector twinned with our passion for the environment has inspired us to create our own sustainability-focused eco-tourism resort that focuses on the health and wellbeing of our guests by working in harmony with nature. For more information, visit our resort development page.

“Having established a design concept for the lodges in 2014, we tendered for the design and build and eventually appointed Ecologic Developments. This local New Forest based company came to our attention early on thanks to their experience and reputation for building huts at Mudeford sandspit. With a lifetimes worth of experience building and repairing huts, Ecologic’s Pete Samson demonstrated to us that he understood how the huts could function and meet our expectations for quality design and low maintenance.

After a long exercise to secure planning consent, construction of the lodges began off site in the New Forest in June 2016. In January 2017 all fifteen huts were delivered to site, fully kitted out, within the space of three days. The beach lodges development has been completed on time, within budget and to a very high quality standard.”

Andrew Emery, Resort Development & Strategic Planning Manager, Bournemouth Tourism