Clubhouse Refurbishment

At nearly one hundred years and twenty-five old, the Sussex County Croquet Club in Kingston Lane offers outstanding facilities for the playing of croquet. The Club is affiliated to Croquet England and its eleven lawns have hosted National, European and World Championships. Each year the Club is the principal venue for the Inter-County Association Croquet Championship and the Inter-County Golf Croquet Championship: these prestigious UK tournaments are among the largest croquet events held anywhere in the world.

While our lawns are world class, our clubhouse is somewhat tired, and we are intending to upgrade these facilities over the next 12-18 months. We already have planning permission and intend to improve the look, the functionality, the accessibility and the energy rating of the buildings.

The problem

The wooden current buildings, owned by the Club, are over a century old and poorly suited to the needs of members and their access and use can be particularly challenging for players and visitors with physical challenges. The toilets and changing facilities are rudimentary and the meetings room are poorly suited to needs of the Academy or to gatherings. The kitchen is ill-designed and far from meets modern catering requirements, even though major events may require a hundred or more people be fed.

.... and the solution

The current buildings are to be modernised, extended and improved. Our aim is to retain their historic nature while providing a modern, accessible club house with facilities that are appropriate for one of England’s leading clubs and a world-leading croquet venue.

Benefits

• remove existing barriers to easy access to make our club more easily accessible for those with mobility or access problems and support our drive towards a more diverse, welcoming and inclusive membership.
• create decking between the buildings and the lawns to provide full access for physically challenged members and visitors.
• provide additional space and level access by creating a link between the two blocks.
• provide convenient disabled parking.
• improve meeting spaces for the Academy and club functions.
• update our toilets – male, female and accessible.
• create a new modern kitchen capable of catering for 100+ people.
• improve year-round use and energy efficiency with modernised wiring, plumbing and thermal insulation.
• reduce maintenance costs.
  
   

Update From the Annual General Meeting in March

At the end of September, it was reported that the bids we had received from builders for the complete refurbishment and linking up our two clubhouse buildings were far in excess of what we can afford and that we would look at de-scoping and phasing the work.

Richard Carline and Paul Brown have put in an enormous amount of work assisted greatly by a quantity surveyor who works with the builder Harrity who put in the most thorough quote.

From this work they have identified a phasing approach to the work as follows:

Phase 1 – Upgrading the canteen and building the link to the veranda building. This will include complete insulation of the canteen with new floors and ceiling. The kitchen and bar will remain where they are and expanded canteen seating will be available in the link area. New full length windows overlooking lawns 1 and 4 will give the wow factor.

Phase 2 - Refurbishing the veranda building to include upgraded cloakrooms, meeting rooms, shop store, an accessible toilet and a new lobby area. When completed this will provide level access to the canteen through the link. External work including decking and ramps and Victoria Road access improvements.

At the AGM of the Club today, following an extensive presentation by Paul Brown, the meeting approved the plan to refurbish the club buildings in two stages, with the first stage starting in October 2025.

The final building will look a little different to the original plan, with a simplication of the roof area covering the link between the two buildings.

At the same time as Phase 1 is completed it is hoped that some interim improvements can be made to the men's changing room area.

As there are changes from the plans approved by Adur District Council, the revised proposals have been re-submitted for approval.

A great deal of work, time and effort has been put into planning this major project by Richard Carline, Paul Brown and the rest of the sub-committee and we thank them for it.

Next Steps

Fund-raising for Phase  2. Substantial efforts will be needed by the Club and its members. Ideas will be welcomed by the Committee.