Converting a lifeboat station in Tenby

Converting a grade II-listed lifeboat station on a South Wales beach proved challenging

By Luke Tebbutt | 7 August 2020

The Grand Designs lifeboat station, located on a very public site and at the mercy of the elements, presented a set of unique challenges. But as its location provides unimpeded view across Tenby harbour, plots don’t get much more spectacular than this.

It took Tim and Philomena O’Donovan seven years just to start the conversion project. This would involve negotiations with the Crown Estate to buy the freehold for the beach strip, a first for the UK, to Tim’s knowledge. They also had to bid against others, including a café and a lobster hatchery, to prove they had the wherewithal to convert and maintain the Grade II-listed lifeboat station.

Lifeboat house on wooden pier overlooking South Wales beach and stunning mountains

The building is Grade-II listed, so the exterior cladding was replaced like for like. Photo: Chris Tubbs

Slow progress

Next came the hard part: getting steel, glass and other heavy materials on site, with no road access – just a coastal path and the beach. Most had to be transported across the sand and craned up the 40ft-high pier, which meant regular dashes between the tides. Not a bad thing necessarily – after all, there’s nothing like the immovable deadline of high tide to encourage speedy work.

However, once all the materials had arrived, things became very slow. Trying to fit straight steel and skirting boards into a warped Edwardian building was a challenge and a half. Subsequently the initial nine-month build time for the Grand Designs lifeboat station would double to 18 months.

Grand Designs lifeboat station wooden walkway with railings leading to red doorway with window porthole

Local residents have been visiting the building since its restoration. Photo: Chris Tubbs

Slow progress

Local residents have been visiting the building since its restoration. Photo: Chris Tubbs

Gaining space

Local architects Michael Argent and Adam Chandler’s design led to a two-storey lifeboat station house. Tim’s original vision was for a single-storey arrangement. The trick for getting more space upstairs was to remove some of the original roof trusses. This gave headroom for Tim and Philomena’s en-suite bedroom at one end, and a library overlooking the sea at the other. There’s a bridge between them that floats over the kitchen below.

Living area of Grand Designs lifeboat station with deep blue corner sofa, wooden coffee table and sliding clear double door overlooking the sea

The sliding glazed doors open on to uninterrupted views of Tenby harbour. Photo: Chris Tubbs

Interior style

Downstairs, a cluster of bedrooms and bathrooms is arranged around the entrance. This opens on to the open-plan kitchen-diner and living space, offering a clean sweep down to the water. It feels like the architectural equivalent of a waterbed, only without the movement. You can see and hear and smell the sea all around. While Philomena’s expert eye for interiors enhances the nautical feel – all blues and sandy browns inspired by the views, and lamps that look like they’re made of driftwood. It feels like the luxury interior of an exquisitely crafted schooner.

Kitchen space with island and dining table, looking up to clear gallow hallway

To work around the slope, a steel frame was used to support a steeped interior. Photo: Chris Tubbs

Once in a lifetime

‘This property, I would say, would come up once in a lifetime,’ says Tim. ‘I cannot imagine anything else that would hold a candle to it. It’s the bee’s knees and the cat’s pyjamas.’ And for Philomena it’s especially significant, since she grew up in a small coastal town like Tenby, with the RNLI at its heart. Friends and family volunteered, or were rescued, and her earliest memories are of running to watch the rescue boats being launched. ‘They would set off three flares, and we would run as fast as we could to the lifeboat station. There was always a feeling of reassuring calmness in these buildings. ‘Getting that feeling back was incredibly important.’