Swanbourne Nedlands Surf Life Saving Club Extension to club room facilities.
LAB designed this surf club renovation and consulted with the community to get it approved. The project is now under construction, thanks to close collaboration with Luke Bishop Design and Neil Brown of the City of Nedlands. It was completed in late 2023.
The surf club's facilities have been upgraded over the years, but it was clear in 2015 that three key areas needed significant improvement: board and craft storage, the gym, and the changerooms.
All renovation work was to be within the club's lease boundary and configured around its north-facing courtyard. The design also needed to capture the commanding views of the Indian Ocean to the west, and it became clear as the project progressed that the uninterrupted views to the north were also important.
Many iterations were discussed and formulated from 2015 to 2021, but none of them were significant. From 2021 onwards, Dan, Luke Bishop, and Neil Brown were instrumental in securing public and government support and funding to give the project the presence its location deserved. An intense procurement process followed, which brought the job to site.
The changerooms are significantly upgraded and extended at ground level, converting a single female toilet and single male toilet into a facility worthy of the club's growing membership base. A heavy and secure masonry base flanks the existing clubrooms to the north, offering a secure storage facility for the club, with a light timber-framed pavilion on top forming the new gym space for members. Training facilities are now upgraded upstairs with large west-facing doors opening to a large deck that wraps around and connects the existing with the new.
Materials are kept in their true form, with galvanized steel and extensive use of timber being key components in the design.