Client Haven Holidays
Location Beal, Berwick-upon-Tweed 
Industry Leisure & Tourism/Hospitality
Size 183m²
Completed April 2019
Value £1.2m
Category ETFE / Rope Access

The remains of Haggerston Castle are located in the North east of England, situated close to the Northumberland coast. Only the tower, rotunda and stable block (Grade II Listed) remain standing. Today, it is best known as a popular caravan park and holiday resort owned by Haven Holidays, part of the Bourne Leisure Group.

Routine maintenance work carried out on the building raised concerns regarding the condition of the curved glu-laminated timber end beams supporting the PVC tented structure located adjacent to the castle tower. This led to Access North being approached to conduct a structural inspection of the beams, the results of which identified significant unrepairable damage and identified the need for a replacement solution.

Access North’s design team was tasked with the job of removing and replacing the life expired PVC ‘tent’ style roof covering and providing an alternative solution, which would give the client a garden atrium ETFE roof in the entrance space, bringing the outside inside and allowing natural daylight inside the structure.

There were a number of challenges that we needed to overcome, including:

• Grade II Listed structure
• As there had been a degree of water ingress at the joints in the old PVC, there was a certain amount of wet rot to the beams and it wouldn’t be fully clear what condition all of the 13 beams were in until access was provided by means of birdcage scaffold.
• Holiday park closure gave a period of only 8 weeks build time, including the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

The solution was driven by the fact that the old PVC covering was mounted on glu-laminated beams, which were part of the listed status of the building. The old roof covering could be replaced on a ‘like for like’ basis but this would not meet the client’s requirement to allow daylight in. Glass was too heavy for the supporting structure so an alternative material was required to meet these challenges.

Access North’s expertise came to the fore, with the knowledge that ETFE could provide the ideal solutions, allowing natural daylight and warmth into the space, whilst still providing protection from the sun.

The garden atrium ETFE roof covering replacement resulted in a significant improvement to the space beneath, without impacting on the buildings Grade II Listed status. By allowing natural daylight in from outside, the feel of the area completely changed, from dark and uninviting, to a welcoming, light and airy space.

This provided significant benefits to guests as it became an area that they wanted to enjoy and spend time in, whilst making use of the park facilities, when the weather was poor. For the client, general wellbeing of staff improved as they were now operating in a work area that was flooded with natural light - a far cry from the dark and dated pavilion they’d known in the past.