Mount Batten Peninsula is a historic headland and one of Plymouth’s most popular gateways to the water.
Home to the Mount Batten Watersports & Activities Centre and the 17th-century Mount Batten Tower, the site combines heritage, recreation, and spectacular views of Plymouth Sound.
As part of the National Marine Park Horizons Project, this scheme delivers a major package of public realm and building improvements: remodeling of the Watersports Centre, the creation of new terraces and landscaped routes, and enhanced public access to the Tower plateau.
Together, these interventions strengthen Mount Batten’s role as a hub for watersports, learning, and coastal exploration.
Location
Plymouth, Devon
Client
Currie & Brown
Service
Architecture, Interior Design, Landscape
Sector
Leisure, Mixed Use, Public Realm, Refurbishment
Completed
Ongoing
Project Vision
The vision is to make Mount Batten a welcoming, inclusive, and vibrant waterfront destination that connects people with the sea.
For the Watersports Centre, this means creating a high-quality reception, café, and changing facilities that reflect the Centre’s importance as both a community resource and visitor attraction.
For the Tower, the vision is to unlock the landscape around the Scheduled Monument, providing new pathways, planting, and seating areas that frame panoramic views of Plymouth Sound. The project is integral to the National Marine Park’s goal of improving access to coastal heritage and enabling more people to enjoy, learn from, and feel ownership of Plymouth’s waterfront.
Design Approach
The design introduces carefully considered interventions that enhance both the built fabric of the Watersports Centre and the wider landscape:
Watersports Centre: A new ground-floor entrance and reception improve the sense of arrival and orientation, linked to an interpretation hub and a re-positioned café that opens directly onto new outdoor terraces.
Changing facilities are upgraded to include modern lockers, improved circulation, and a Changing Places facility, making the building more accessible for all users. External areas are reorganised with rationalised car parking, sustainable transport provision, and safer separation of boat storage from pedestrian routes.
Public Realm & Tower: Landscaped terraces, planting beds, and stepped seating areas enhance the South West Coast Path, creating new places to gather, watch events on the water, or enjoy views across Cattewater.
Around the Tower, pathways and coastal planting frame the monument and improve access, with interpretation to connect visitors to its layered history.
Materiality & Planting: Pre-cast concrete, hardwood seating, and corten steel planters create a robust and maritime-appropriate palette, while drought-tolerant planting softens hard edges and enhances biodiversity.
Project Outcomes
Enhanced Watersports Centre: New café, reception, interpretation hub, and modernised changing rooms improve facilities for visitors and community groups.
Accessible Public Realm: New terraces, ramps, and pathways integrate the South West Coast Path and open up the waterfront to a wider audience.
Heritage Setting: Landscape works around Mount Batten Tower improve access while respecting the Scheduled Monument and conserving its unique character.
Active & Social Spaces: Terraced seating areas create places for social interaction, event viewing, and informal outdoor learning.
Visitor Economy & Community Impact: Strengthens Mount Batten as a destination within the National Marine Park, supporting local tourism and increasing community use of the Centre.
Sustainability Approach
The project prioritises sustainability in design, construction, and long-term use. Rationalised car parking integrates electric vehicle bays and motorhome spaces, while a new mobility hub provides EV cycle charging, secure bike storage, and links to an enhanced bus stop, supporting low-carbon travel.
Existing retaining walls and site features are retained wherever possible, reducing embodied carbon. Planting strategies prioritise drought-tolerant and coastal species, delivering biodiversity gain and resilient landscapes. Flood risk and drainage strategies work with existing site conditions, integrating planting to improve surface water management.
Related Projects
National Marine Park – The Garden Battery
