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IslandWorks at Dockyard Church

I had the privilege of working on a comprehensive branding, design, and website development project for the historic Dockyard Church in Sheerness, revitalised by Will Palin and the Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust after two devastating fires. This project stands as the largest restoration effort on the Isle of Sheppey to date, supported by £4.2 million in lottery funding and a total of £9.8 million in grants.

The transformed Dockyard Church now serves as a modern coworking space, a destination coffee shop, and a business centre for aspiring young entrepreneurs and small business owners. It hosts craft fairs, art galleries, and community-driven events, fulfilling the vision of IslandWorks at Dockyard Church to become a vibrant community hub with members and customers enjoying a full suite of affordable business amenities available right on their doorstep.

About the Business

IslandWorks is a dynamic coworking space located on the Isle of Sheppey, inside the meticulously restored Sheerness Dockyard Church on Garrison Road. IslandWorks offers flexible desk-space rental options by the day, week, or month, and is an affordable alternative to traditional office rentals. They provide a variety of amenities designed to support the needs of modern professionals, which include hireable meeting rooms, a versatile and wide-open event space, and a dedicated on-site coffee shop – The Coffee Lounge. The Coffee Lounge spotlights locally roasted coffee from Ashford, speciality tea blends from Margate, and a diverse array of cakes and sweet treats from the Island’s local bakers, creating a vibrant community hub of collaboration and creativity.

My Role

George Beresford Brand Designer and Website Developer
T Tony Editor, Project Manager
H Hugh Boughton Architects 3D Modelling
S Sheerness Dockyard Preservation Trust Project Moderator

Target Audience

Young (aged 18-30) Entrepreneurs, Start-up Businesses, SMEs and Creatives

Project Disciplines

Logo Design, Branding, Prototypes & Mockups, Motion & Animation, Digital Banners, UI/UX Design, Responsive Design, Landing Page, API Integration, WordPress Websites

A visual identity to showcase a contemporary character and complement the former church's history and tradition

The goal was to design a brand that seamlessly blended the contemporary and inventive character of the new business centre with the rich history and tradition of the building. To appeal to the youthful and energetic target group, I crafted a visual identity that incorporated architectural elements, such as the circular sky-lights and nave-stage archway, while utilising a modern colour palette and typography.

As part of the branding effort, I developed a comprehensive logo suite, signage, print-work and website, all designed to convey the unique combination of tradition and innovation. The end result is a brand that not only honours the building’s heritage but also inspires businesses to thrive at IslandWorks through a distinctive and compelling visual language.

Challenges

The branding and logo needed to harmonise with the architecture, ensuring they complemented the overall aesthetic. Additionally, there were very strict limitations on signage placements, as fixing anything to the original stone and plasterwork was not permitted due to the Grade II* listing of the Building.

Solution

The minimalist visual identity was designed to complement the architecture of Sheerness Dockyard Church, ensuring signage and menus provided just enough contrast against the historic backdrop. The restriction on fixings allowed for some creative signage placements, such as window decals and hanging signs, which creatively avoided the need to install anything to the building's original stonework.

The Main Entrance signage posed the most challenge, as there were no other suitable spots beside the window above the automatic entrance doors.

IslandWorks at Dockyard Church, primary logotype.

I designed a Primary Horizontal logotype, Stacked secondary logotype, and a Favicon inspired heavily from the clocktower's weathervane

A photo of external signage, attached to black metal gates. The sign reads: IslandWorks at Dockyard Church. Coffee Shop, Events & Meeting Rooms, Coworking space and features opening times. — Additional external signage was needed on the front gates to signpost where IslandWorks is, when the building is closed and main entrance locked up.

An image of branded entrance floor mat, situated in the lobby of Sheerness Dockyard Church. The mat reads "IslandWorks" and omits the logotype subtext due to printing constraints. — While the brand was required to feature "At Dockyard Church" in the logo, it was not always possible to feature this at smaller scales or when featured on limiting materials such as hand-tufted rugs.

An image displaying internal waypoint signage for Meeting Rooms. This sign reads "IslandWorks: Conference Room" and is affixed on the reverse side of the pane of glass that makes up the wall to this room. — Reverse window decal signage was designed to waypoint the amenities inside the Dockyard Church that were hidden behind privacy glass. Great for a confidential meeting, but not so great find your way around!

Menu Board concept design in white, to contrast against the sandstone featured in the architecture.

I drew inspiration from the geometric architectural features present throughout the Church

Portable menu mockup design to visualise how food menus could potentially be presented to patrons under waited service

Designed to support and complement a conservationist heritage site and architectural marvel

As part of the branding project for the historic church turned coworking space and business centre, I created various marketing collateral to support IslandWorks’ visual identity. This included flyers, posters and banners, and website.

The flyers and posters were designed to promote the various services and facilities available at the business centre. I used a mix of modern typography, bold unedited imagery, and forms from the church’s architecture to create purposeful designs that would appeal to the target audience of young entrepreneurs, creatives and business people.

Similarly to how the IslandWorks brand steps back from overshadowing the Dockyard Church's impressive architecture, these conceptual Table-talkers for The Coffee Lounge were designed to put the food at the fore-front for them to speak for themself

Up-close photo of the Coffee menu boards installed in The Coffee Lounge showing the wide variety of Coffee, Tea, and staple drinks available to order with their prices listed to the right. — After renovation was complete, it became apparent that the menu boards originally designed in white needed to have clearer visibility due to the lack of indirect lighting. These were inverted to feature white text on black Foamex boards to ensure the best contrast and readability when standing to make an order.

Photo showing coffee menu boards in situ. Attached by steel cables overhanging the back wall. — The menu boards were fixed towards the right of the back coffee bar wall, to be central where a customer stood to make an order and prevent the low hanging light pendants obscuring the view

Portable rollerbanner to showcase offerings available at IslandWorks, to be used both on-site and at events

External waypoint signage to help guide pedestrians through the park, and vehicles to the carpark at the rear

External signage to advertise beverage and food offerings available at the Dockyard Church

WordPress meets Interactive THREE.js, with additional custom fields and post-types to support Upcoming Events and Memberships

The website was built in WordPress and used Three.js to showcase the building and facilities in interactive 3D elements. I wanted to feature the church as an interactive 3D model on the homepage to showcase the marvel that was the overall restoration project. Being kindly given Hugh Broughton Architects‘ 3D Enscape models for this purpose, and with some minor tweaks and editing to optimise its use and load-time for the web, my vision was to readily showcase the building’s exterior to visitors. The interior of the church was intentionally left out to preserve that sense of magic when visitors first enter and see the full restoration with their own eyes.

The use of WordPress allowed the team to readily update the website as needed, utilising Custom Post Types and Advanced Custom Fields, also allowed the showcasing of upcoming events and a directory of Business Network Members in addition to article posts and pages. Additionally, custom-built sign-up forms built off the Gmail API allowed the team to receive valuable leads free of spam, and Digital Membership Cards were planned to streamline IslandWorks’ members claiming their discounts in The Coffee Lounge.

Challenges

The original Enscape 3D models provided by the Architects to use in this project were too large to stream on the web, and featured over 1 million triangles. They were originally intended to be used as fully-detailed building plans for the construction teams.

Solution

By editing the model in Blender, I was able to strip the 3D model back to the exterior elements I planned to feature. This removed 80% of the triangles and vertices in the file, however there was still room for improvement. I also applied a Decimate modifier over the entire model to simplify its geometry and further reduce the amount of loop cuts and vertices present. This reduced the amount of draw calls in Three.js, and allowed the file to stream in quickly.

This image is a screenshot of the viewport from Blender (a 3D modelling program) showing the Sheerness Dockyard Church model in an isometric side view — To be able to use the scale model provided by the Architects, I needed to first isolate the church from the surrounding landscape and neighbouring buildings that were present in the Enscape file.

Another screenshot from Blender displaying the wireframe view of the isolated church model, in front-view — To use on the web, I also needed to remove unseen furniture and walls to reduce the total file-size. Applying a decimate modifier on top of these tweaks, also reduced the amount of draw calls required when animating the model alleviating any quirky and jittery movement when scrolling on the website.

Until the building restoration was complete and photo-ready, I showcased the facilities using interactive 3D models.

Monthly memberships were based on days-per-week pricing models, so I needed to communicate clearly the key differences between the 3 tiers available.

Before the Meeting Rooms were finished, we needed a way to showcase their capacity until we could feature images. Using 3D models, I was able to visually represent the max seating capacity and technology available in the rooms.

Screenshot showing three isolated 3D models of: Coworking Space, Meeting Room, Coffee Shop

Project Conclusion

IslandWorks at Dockyard Church involved creating a visual identity that blends the contemporary spirit of a business centre with the historical essence of a Grade II* listed building. I designed a cohesive brand, including logos, signage, and a website, overcoming architectural constraints creatively. Utilising modern design elements and interactive 3D models, the project successfully showcases the restored church while preserving its heritage. The outcome is a vibrant, appealing brand that respects the building's legacy and supports the growth of its business community.

Feedback for this Project

George’s work on designing menus for my coffee shop was nothing short of amazing. He was incredibly quick and delivered designs that exceeded my expectations every time. What truly stood out was his ability to take my scribbled notes and turn them into exactly what I had envisioned, as if he could read my mind. His creativity and professionalism made the entire process seamless and enjoyable. I cannot recommend George enough for anyone in need of exceptional design work.
Sharon Morgan (Coffee Shop & Catering Manager, IslandWorks at Dockyard Church)

George is a truly talented designer and developer. I have worked with George for over 10 years and always has a keen eye for perfection. Would highly recommend him and his work.
Tony Heyden (General Manager of Operations, Fruitbowl Media)

George is a fabulous designer/developer. He is creative and imaginative and comes up with great designs. As well as his design skills he is also becoming a fine developer to a rare set of talents. He is customer focused and a pleasure to work with.
Paul Andrews (CEO, Jobs In Kent)

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I'm a passionate brand designer and website developer based in the beautiful county of Kent. With the flexibility of remote work, I bring creativity and technical expertise to clients across the UK and beyond.

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