Tattershall Castle, Victoria Embankment

Built in 1934, Tattershall Castle was once used faithfully throughout the Second World War. After long service as a passenger and goods ferry, in 1973 the ship was retired and towed to London, where it was converted into a floating art gallery and subsequently the extremely successful pub and restaurant that stands there today.

With views of the Houses of Parliament and London Eye, this floating pub and restaurant is moored on the River Thames at Victoria Embankment, one of Britain’s most iconic locations.

Indigo’s involvement with Tattershall Castle began in 2014, with a discussion about refurbishing the ship.

Soon after this, Indigo conducted a site survey. There were standard, folding arm awnings fit to a goalpost structure installed on the ship; these were badly damaged, and the initial intention was to either repair or replace them altogether.

After viewing the site, Indigo concluded that, due to the exposed nature of the location, awnings would not be suitable for the ship and recommended a Pergotex fixed structure with a retractable heavy duty PVC roof instead.

Tattershall Castle agreed to go ahead with Indigo’s recommendation, and as part of a multi-million pound refurbishment to the ship, it was concluded that the fixed structure would be added and the awnings removed.

In January 2015, just before the ship was taken to Hull, Indigo removed all awnings from the site. Once it was taken to the dry dock, a detailed survey was conducted to assess how best to secure the structure to the deck.

At this stage, it was discovered that this would be far from straight-forward; on the deck, there were two 2 metre tall ventilation shafts obstructing the installation area. Due to the fact that the ship is listed, the shafts could not be removed and would need to be worked around. In addition, the decks curved from the centre outwards, meaning the measurements had to be millimetre-perfect – a very tough feat.

A Pergotex fixed structure with a heavy duty PVC folding roof was added to the area at 7 metre width by 3 metre projection on either side of the goal post structure. On 11th May, the front deck installation was competed in line with schedule and budget, despite the difficulties faced. The clients were so delighted by the transformation that in early November, a repeat order was placed for a matching fixed structure to be installed on the back deck.

This second installation was bigger than the first: a total of four units were linked together with a fully integral rain water draining system, measuring at 5.2 metre width by just over 3 metre projection on either side of the goalpost, totalling a covered area of 60 square metres.

This structure was fitted at the beginning of January 2016; once again, the clients were blown away with the installation and levels of professionalism for dealing with the complications faced, and have stated that ultimately they will enlist Indigo’s services to infill the sides of the structure with glazed panels.

To enquire more about Indigo’s range of Fixed Structures and other outdoor shading solutions, call 01352 751889 or email [email protected]