In our last news post we announced that BYSA had taken on the lease of the former Sit Perpetuum Lodge, Bisley, with the express purpose of renovating it into a modern, state-of-the-art clubhouse, with a comprehensive array of facilities, dedicated to the support of young shooters.
Fully aware how interested our members are to know what these plans are, not to mention the general shooting community, we plan to keep you all updated on the progress of the project via this blog.
So, without further ado, here is a first look at the plans for the new clubhouse.
When deciding what facilities the clubhouse would provide and designing the layout, within the limited space available, we had to consider the specific priorities and needs of the various groups that the clubhouse is primarily intended to support.
One thing that was quickly evident from speaking to our members, affiliates, and from market research, was that while all the facilities a young shooter needs are available at Bisley, they are often spread across multiple providers. This makes participating in shooting logistically more difficult, particularly for those who are unfamiliar with Bisley, but typically also requires an individual to have multiple memberships which increases costs unnecessarily. There is no ‘one-stop-shop’ designed to cater specifically to young shooters, and so that became our primary goal … to provide all the key facilities a young shooter would need to be able to participate in the sport, all under one roof.
In addition to providing a facility which enables individual young shooters participate in the sport, we also wanted to develop a facility that could be used by as many groups as possible, such as: Universities, Cadet Units, Schools and Scouts. Partly because making the facility useable by as many people as possible ultimately helps more young shooters, which benefits the sport, but also maximises occupancy. This will both minimise the cost to the individual, making shooting at Bisley as affordable as we possibly can, while also making the facility itself more economically viable. There would be little point in us developing the facility if it is unable to support itself and youth shooting in the long-term.
With all these considerations in mind the type of facility we will be providing is most closely modelled on a youth hostel.
The key facilities that will be included on the ground floor are:
- Two dormitories with accommodation for up to 21 people (more on this later)
- Self-catering kitchen, with multiple ovens & hobs (more on this later)
- Separate male & female ablutions
- Section 1 Armoury with electronic key fob entry system (more on this later)
- Living/common area
We will go into more detail on each of these areas over the coming weeks … look forward to next week’s blog when we will reveal the plans for the first floor. In the meantime, a ground floor plan and some 3D renders are viewable below.
Happy shooting!
Richard Stebbings
Chairman
Note: Specifics such as furniture layouts and colour schemes etc are for illustrative purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the final internal layout of any fittings. The software used to generate the plan and renders has a limited number of options and these plans/renders represent the best ‘close fit’ to what we intend.
Sit Perpetuum Lodge - Ground Floor View 1
Sit Perpetuum Lodge - Ground Floor View 2
Sit Perpetuum Lodge - Ground Floor View 3
Sit Perpetuum Lodge - Ground Floor View 4
I am intrigued to know what led to the decision of making the male ablutions larger than the female ones. Also, I can only see see bunk availability for 16 people not the 21 you mention Where will the other 5 sleep please? Thank you
Hi Gail,
More than happy to answer your questions.
The floor plan is a bit misleading, and that is my fault. The ablutions aren’t really ‘male’ and ‘female’, they’re actually designed to be unisex (hence there being no urinals), so ‘ablution 1’ & ‘ablution 2’ would be more a more accurate description. The best solution we could come up with was to make the ablutions so that they could be designated to a gender dependent on who booked the building i.e. should there be more females than males in the facility then the larger ablution would be designated ‘female’, likewise all ablutions could both be female if, for example, an all girls school booked the entire facility, and obviously vice versa.
The clubhouse will have a standard layout for day-to-day, with the larger of the ablutions being designated male which reflects the 70/30 split between males and females in our membership. This is in constant review and if the split changes then changes will be made accordingly … one of the other reasons the ablutions have been designed to be unisex right from the start.
We understand the issue with the ablutions, but we are really limited by the structure; supporting walls, other things we can’t move, and restrictions within the lease etc. The only way we can see to make the ground floor ablutions equal sized is to make ‘ablution 1′ smaller … which is rather pointless to everyone. This layout is the result of 6 months’ work, we have explored all options we can think of and this proposal is the best solution our architect (who happens to be female) came up with.
Of course, if you can see a better alternative we’ve missed then we’re all ears.
In time, and when funds allow, there will be the opportunity to install additional ablutions on the first floor should there prove to be significant problem, or a gender imbalance, with the current proposed layout.
I hope that answers all your questions.
With regards to the number of ‘bunks’, I draw your attention to the note at the bottom of the post which states “Specifics such as furniture layouts and colour schemes etc are for illustrative purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the final internal layout of any fittings. The software used to generate the plan and renders has a limited number of options and these plans/renders represent the best ‘close fit’ to what we intend.” … hence the number of bunks is not accurate.
Our plan for the dormitories is not possible with the software package used to produce this render … this will be revealed in a future post.
I hope that helps.
1. You call the project ‘Renovation’ of the Sit Perpetuum Lodge. The existing building is a timber framed structure in which most of the structural timbers are undersized. There is no way that you can ‘renovate’ the existing building to create a two-storey building.
2. Bisley Camp is a Conservation Area. Have you obtained planning permission from Guildford Council to demolish the existing building and erect a two-storey structure in its place?
Dear Peter,
Thank you for your enquiry. Unfortunately you have made a number of incorrect assumptions which, I anticipate, are as a result of misinterpreting the renders included on our ‘first look’ news pages. Please be aware that the software used to create these renders is very limited (hence the dislaimer at the foot of each of these pages to that effect) and so will not allow us to show all details such as the pitch of the roof. If it did then it would become readily apparent that the first floor will exist within the existing roof space.
You are correct that existing building is timber framed and that many of these structural timbers would not be of sufficient size and strength to bear the loads required of them. The present building clearly has a history of this which is why the original roof trusses have already previously been reinforced with steel. Load-bearing areas of the existing structure are going to be reinforced wherever neccessary, with blockwork, steel or additional timbers as appropriate.
The existing building will not be ‘demolished’. Notwithstanding that we do not have permission from the Landlord to do that, but it also is wholly uneccessary. Our renovation plans will be completed entirely within the existing structure of the building and can be achieved without changing the external appearance of the building. The only exception to this is minor cosmetic changes, such as the necessary replacement ofe existing windows with new, energy efficient double glazing and potentially also instaling new high energy efficiency doors, which are all permitted changes.
As there will be no major changes, and what development there is will be within the curtilage of the existing building, there is no requirement to apply for planning permission or conservation area consent in this instance. We do, however, require Buildings Regulation Approval which will involve Building Control, which we are of course doing.
The Old Sergeants Mess has fairly recently been renovated in a very similar fashion and I would encourage you to see how they have renovated their property whenever you are next able … it is a vast improvement.
Thank you for your concern and we hope to see you on the ranges soon.