Butlins Skegness Vision

Jan 1999

SPACE & PLACE was appointed in 1997 to undertake the master planning of a £150 million ‘Vision 2000’ redevelopment of the extensive Butlins Family Entertainment Resorts including their resort on the east coast of England at Skegness, Lincolnshire, now the Butlins Resort Skegness owned by Butlins Skyline Ltd. The site was the first Butlins resort, originally built in 1936, and was intended to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families.

The redevelopment was planned to bring the resort into the 21st century and update/replace the existing facilities. In addition to the master planning, S&P’s appointment also included the redevelopment of the entire central entertainment venues. The development centred upon installing a large tensile fabric structure to provide an all-weather enclosure subsequently referred to as the ‘Skyline Pavilion’.

The 6,000 square metre Skyline Pavilion at Skegness was designed and co-ordinated by S&P and its design team, to link all the entertainment venues and provide a high capacity lively atmosphere, protected from the environment, with bars & restaurant seating, entertainment and staged performances including extensive theming to emphasize the holiday atmosphere.

The project also included the complete refurbishment of all existing venue buildings and accommodation blocks combined with resort wide rebranding.

The work was undertaken during two winter shut-down periods commencing in 1997 and completed in 1999 ready for the new Millennium. This avoided having to close the resorts for the intervening holiday seasons, ensuring that Skegness continued to provide resort wide facilities for its customers throughout.