Our client purchased the boatyard with the ambition to secure the long-term future of the boatyard and the boat building traditions in Woodbridge. This new building gives the business an element of diversity to help fund long-term stability and future site improvements. The Belvedere contains office spaces on the ground floor for market rent, and a holiday apartment at first and second floor levels. This location is a happy accident, a place that has grown organically leaving a small hamlet with a townscape of great character. There are buildings and spaces which are ‘under- designed’ alongside new modern interventions. The topography gives a great sense of arrival and discovery when crossing the railway line and across to the riverfront. Because of its linear nature, the area reveals itself as a series of ‘cameos’ as you travel through it. The area has a busy, atmospheric, yet often drab character, dominated by the river. It is an invigorating, exciting and, at times, even magical place to be. It provides an assault on all the senses – sights, sounds, textures and even smells help define it. Its character changes with the seasons and the time of day, and always strongly dictated by the weather. The area is a unique mixture that has, on the whole, grown organically over time. But, despite this fragmentation, everything is dominated by the river, and there is a strong and distinctive sense of place as a result. At Robertson’s Boatyard there is a micro-level of incident, including minor buildings and their uses, walls, surface finishes and artefacts whose qualities give this site its uniqueness and special setting.