The Former Hardy Complex, Isle of Portland

An exciting new opportunity was presented to Forge Design Studio in mid 2025 through an introduction from the team at Savills.

The Former Hardy Complex, owned by Comar Homes, a respected housing developer, is a prominent site on the Isle of Portland. Renowned for its naval heritage, the site is equally recognised for its derelict concrete structure, which has attracted significant negative attention in recent years.

Planning consent was originally granted in 2007 for the conversion of the existing building, alongside further development across the site, delivering a total of 363 apartments. See image below -

3D Visual of Extant Permission Granted in 2007_REF: 07/00731/FULMAJ

With considerable time having elapsed since the approval of the original scheme, the client has reinvigorated the project with a new design team and a fresh vision. The revised proposals include the demolition of the existing derelict building and the construction of a new apartment block. In contrast to the extant permission, the updated scheme introduces a more diverse housing mix, comprising 248 apartments and 122 houses of varying sizes.

The proposals were submitted to Dorset Council as a Pre-App in September 2025. Forge Design Studio were then Lead Design Consultants through-out the project's public consultation programme. Working closely with the client, the public events were delivered successfully and received a largely positive response from the local community.

A combination of activities ran over 4 days including VIP Sessions for existing residents, a Local Authority promoted Developer Forum held at the Sailing Centre, a South West Design Review Panel as well as two days of general public consultation.

We prepared all the presentation material in form of the pop-up banners, slide shows and pre-emptive documentation. Co-ordinating across the team we pulled together input from all the consultants and ensured it was put forward in a cohesive and timely manner.The scheme itself has developed really positively and was generally very well received by all attendees although it does help when one of the key aspects of the design strategy is the demolition of a much maligned and disliked multi-storey concrete carbuncle!!

We all enjoyed a well-earned break and glass of wine on the Friday evening!

The full consultation presentation can be found here!