Camel’s Head Gate – MOD Plymouth Investment
Devonport, the largest naval base in Western Europe, has been supporting of the Royal Navy since 1691. Spanning over 650 acres, this expansive facility boasts 15 dry docks, four miles of waterfront, 25 tidal berths, and five basins. It plays a pivotal role in employing 2,500 service personnel and civilians, bolstering approximately 400 local businesses, and contributing around ten percent of Plymouth’s revenue.
Devonport Royal Dockyard has been selected to provide future deep maintenance support to the Royal Navy’s newest submarine platforms in addition to the current workload supporting existing classes of submarines. This will see an investment in infrastructure of approximately £2bn over the next 10 years.
Part of this investment was the overhaul of the Camels Head Gate entrance to the site, increasing security and improving access for cars, pedestrians, and cyclists.
A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “Camels Head Gate has not been upgraded for some years and this upgrade will enhance security and the safety of personnel and visitors to the Naval Base.”
The Bike Storage Company was approached by Bowmer + Kirkland and commissioned to design, manufacture and install bespoke bike storage and a bus shelter for the Ministry of Defence site. This early concept sketch shows the plan for the new multistorey carpark alongside bike parking provisions and a bus stop at the entrance to the base.
The brief was for 60 cycle spaces, but with limited ground space for the install we knew our starting point would be to deploy our two-tier rack system. The space allowed for four back-to-back 16 space (8-up, 8-down) two-tier racks – providing a total of 64 cycle parking spots.
We then turned our attention to the shelter itself. The challenge was to focus on security and cycle protection, whilst maintaining the modern look new facilities on site. The cycle shelters themselves were housed within the secure boundaries of the base and covered by numerous existing CCTV cameras, so with that in mind, we started designing a bespoke, toughened glass panelled shelter.
Using glass allowed for line of site visibility for CCTV and personnel, a deterrent for any would-be bike thieves, but also allowed all the ambient light in the area to reach the internals of the shelter, negating the need for extra internal lighting, and in turn keeping clean lines across the design.
We started by looking at our hugely popular Binfield Cycle Shelter – a cantilever canopy that can be upgraded to 8mm toughened glass. We levelled out the roof and extended the glass panelling to the rear and sides of the shelter to increase protection from the elements.
The end-result was beautiful, modern shelter with great security that was going to withstand and protect bikes from the coastal elements.
We then mirrored this design for the requested bus shelter, stripping out the bike racks but designing a built-in noticeboard and bench. A nice finishing touch was to powder coat the galvanised steel frame in the same colour as the busses that service the stop. We also added a translucent vinyl design of dots to the roof panels of the shelter to reduce the impact of direct sunlight on waiting passengers.
The end result was a fantastic achievement and tremendous success and provided the MOD naval base accessible facilities perfectly suited to the site and its ongoing development. Our design team were able to apply their expertise to develop a truly bespoke service that maximised the use of space on the ground and delivered modern solutions for a modern organisation.
Interested in exploring our bike storage solutions? Contact us today to discuss your project.
Like what you see? – Take a look at our Lincoln Cycle Two Tier Shelter and Lincoln Bus/Smoking Shelter.
