Gorey pier was rebuilt by the States between 1816 and 1817, at a cost of £16,000, in order to support the rapidly burgeoning Oyster Industry. At the height of the first boom of the industry between 1820 and 1830 there were an average of 100,000 tubs of oysters being sent to England each year. The oysters were dredged by 300 vessels which were manned by up to 1,500 British seamen.

The huge influx of people involved in all areas of the oyster trade led to the rapid expansion of Gorey Village and Gorey Pier.

The Sail Loft site was one of the quarries for the granite needed to re-build the pier, and towards the end of the nineteenth century might have been the location for a tunnel under Mont Orgueil for the Jersey Eastern Railway to connect with St Catherines. This, however, proved unviable, as did the railway itself, eventually closing in 1929 some 56 years after its inception.

Our proposals are for a podium car park with a shared garden and a timber clad, pavilion house at the rear, enjoying views of the 800 year old Mont Orgeuil Castle. On the pier the existing shop is retained and a new home created by combining the listed building with a new structure.

The frontage of the new façade respects the Pier’s heritage and both the bygone Oyster Industry, with the glass decorative balustrades, and a metal, planar façade inspired by the longstanding agricultural tradition of collecting seaweed (kelp, or ‘vraic’ in Jerriais) to help nourish the world-famous Jersey Royal potatoes. The façade shutters, securing the car park and first floor master bedroom, are perforated with the graceful forms of kelp forests, swaying in a gentle tide. They are kinetic, metal elements, as are commonplace in harbours, and provide movement and night-time interest whilst also telling a story about past memories of this ancient place.