On the first floor are a clubroom, bar and restaurant. Above is a double-height function space, and above that an apartment for the club secretary and a series of ?cabins? for visiting guests. The uppermost floors accommodate a range of event spaces. The observation decks are shaded by retractable fabric screens supported by a mast and booms. The harbour elevations are fully glazed and shaded by louvres, and can be opened up to provide uninterrupted views. Photovoltaic cells, solar thermal panels and sea-water cooling systems have all been integrated to ensure the building sets new sustainability standards.

The scheme also introduces shops and other amenities at quay level to animate the harbour. The lower floors accommodate a rowing club and sailing school, whose sliding doors encourage activities to spread out on to the quayside. Designed largely for children, the school provides classrooms, workshops and lofts for small boats. Inland, there is a landscaped park on the roof of the sailing school and nautical society. Bounded on one side by the club?s restaurant terrace and leading on the other side to a new exhibition hall, it complements the sequence of green spaces in this densely populated city and forms a new link in the pedestrian route between the quayside and Casino Square"