Tenby Lifeboat Station

You can find TimberTech decking in all kinds of places across the UK, from children’s nurseries to the chicest of beachside bars, suburban gardens to seaside balconies. And now, TimberTech has been chosen for a very unusual renovation project - the iconic lifeboat station in Tenby, Wales, which featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs programme. 

When the RNLI built a brand-new £3.5million lifeboat station in Tenby in 2005, it planned to demolish the adjacent original station, which is over 100 years old. But, due to the age of the building, historic environment agency CADW declined the demolition application. Instead, the lifeboat charity was faced with footing the bill for the renovation of this historic Welsh landmark. 

In stepped Cardiff businessman Tim O’Donovan, who bought Tenby Lifeboat Station from the RNLI. Tim, who runs Horan Engineering, has restored the famous red-roofed listed building into a four-bedroom holiday home for his family to use when they visit Tenby.

With the help of local architecture firm Argent, Tenby Lifeboat Station has now been transformed into a light, open space with all the charm of the old lifeboat station and all the comforts of a modern family home. To make the most of the property’s stunning vistas and unique coastal location, an exclusive suspended balcony has been installed with infinite views over the harbour and beyond – decked with TimberTech’s VertiGrain 2 boards, which creates a streamlined look that perfectly befits the project’s design. 

So why TimberTech? Project manager Brendan O’Donovan explains: 

"We needed something durable, especially for a marine environment where conditions can be particularly unforgiving. Normal wood decking would warp and become weather-worn in no time at all."