Docking Station Medway

Docking Station

A new creative hub for Medway

iCCi is developing the Docking Station, in partnership with Medway Council and the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, to create a new hub for the cultural and creative industries in Medway with a focus on immersive digital technology, innovation and research.

Take our survey to help us shape our plans for heritage and digital engagement activities in the run up to the opening of Docking Station  

The Project

Docking Station will transform the Grade II listed Scheduled Ancient Monument and former Police Section House, situated just to the north of The Historic Dockyard Chatham, into a unique creative facility. 

This £14M regeneration project will deliver a world-leading centre of creative digital production, education and community engagement. It will create new public realm, boost civic pride, drive economic and skills development and Medway’s levelling-up priorities, and bring world class digital opportunities to Chatham. 

 

It will deliver c.966sqm for researchers, artists, creative practitioners, and technologists including: 

  • State-of-the-art digital production studios including LED volume, motion capture, volumetric capture and photogrammetry 
  • Flexible teaching spaces 
  • Co-working space and incubator/accelerator schemes 
  • Performance and exhibition spaces 
  • A modern café/bar and social space 
  • A programme of public events and engagement 

  The immersive digital studio will provide cutting-edge technologies and allow students, businesses and academics to innovate and experiment with a range of technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, virtual production, motion capture, immersive audio, artificial intelligence, digital art and biomechanics. The possible applications of this technology across the creative and cultural industries and the sectors of health and wellbeing, sports sciences, and psychology are vast. The Docking Station aims to put Medway at the forefront of research and innovation into digital immersive experiences.   


The Architects

Multi-award winning architectural practice specialising in sustainability, heritage architecture, and placemaking, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios are working with us to create a unique, purpose-built facility, and to restore the Police Section House to become a cultural landmark for Medway.   

Design work is progressing well and the Planning Application is expected to be submitted in the summer 2023 

Regeneration in Medway

Located between the University’s Pembroke campus and its Historic Dockyard premises, this development will place cultural and creative industries at the heart of the regeneration plans for the last remaining undeveloped part of the former Dockyard site. The Docking Station will boost productivity, generate jobs, make a visible impact on Medway’s cultural regeneration and provide the facilities and skills development opportunities to support digital innovation within the creative industries sector.

Project Funding & Governanace


Creative Estuary and Medway Council funding has kick-started project development by enabling the completion of feasibility studies which has paved the way for further investment.  

Medway Council have secured a £5.6 million share of the Government’s Levelling Up Fund for the project and iCCi has secured £3.5 million from the Cultural Development Fund via Arts Council England. The project is also supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. 

The Docking Station Project is formally overseen by the iCCi Board. We are currently establishing a Creative Technology Development Board that will report to iCCi Board, to help shape project delivery and embed future technologies across our work, with representatives from industry and education including the BFI, Creative UK, Dovetail Games, Screen South and The Backstage Centre.


"The Docking Station project will transform the Grade II listed building into a unique creative facility."


Catherine Richardson, Director iCCi, University of Kent