Hannah Smart

Amphibious Shores: Redefining Dunbar Harbour

Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA)

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Project description

Dunbar Harbour, once a vital centre of Scotland’s fishing industry, now finds itself at a threshold between its historic identity and a future shaped by rising seas, shifting ecologies and economies and evolving community needs. These changes often register as slow disruptions: saltwater breaks down stone, streets flood, livelihoods adapt. But rather than treating these as problems to solve, Amphibious Shores asks whether they might be openings - inviting new ways of living with water, not despite it.

This project expands the definition of the harbour, both conceptually and physically, reframing it as a responsive, regenerative landscape where land, sea and community co-create. It proposes a network of adaptive interventions: an amphibious park, floating oyster islands, modular rockpools, and layered breakwaters. These are not barriers, but collaborators. Structures that absorb tidal force, filter water, foster biodiversity, and make space for gathering, connection and reflection.

By embracing the harbour’s intertidal condition and designing for fluctuation, the project builds resilience into the fabric of place. Flexible, modular systems allow the landscape to grow and adapt over time, extending the harbour’s lifespan well into an uncertain future. In doing so, it ensures the harbour remains not just protected, but ecologically productive, socially alive, and capable of evolving with the climate and community it serves.

Amphibious Shores Through the Tides

Boardwalk Visualisation at Low Tide

Boardwalk Visualisation at Middle Tide

Boardwalk Visualisation at HighTide

A diagram depicting site research and Dunbar Harbour's dynamic systems

Dynamic Systems at Dunbar Harbour

Sea Level Rise

These three lines illustrate tidal conditions along the coastline near Dunbar Harbour. The first marks the current low tide level, the second shows the current high tide, and the third represents the projected future high tide based on sea level rise predictions.

Rising sea levels increase the risk of flooding and accelerate erosion, threatening the harbour and surrounding coastline’s structural stability and reducing usable space. As tides rise, parts of the harbour are predicted to become permanently submerged, impacting both marine habitats and community access.

Without adaptation, these pressures could significantly alter the harbour’s function and character, challenging its future as an economic, social and ecological space.

Low Tide, High Tide and Predicted Tidal levels along Dunbar's Coastline

Oyster Island Tidal Flux

Oyster Island at Low Tide

Oyster Island at Middle Tide

Oyster Island at High Tide

Oyster Islands

The floating islands are a central part of my proposal, designed to respond to rising sea levels while providing adaptable, community-focused spaces. Flexible to best suit their desired purpose through time, larger island configurations can group activities such as outdoor classrooms, yoga sessions, performances, and community gatherings, transforming the islands into floating civic spaces.

Anchored yet moveable, the islands rise and fall with the water, mirroring the harbour’s dynamic nature. As sea levels rise and traditional structures are lost, the islands will carry forward the harbour’s spirit - not by preserving its form, but by sustaining its use and connection to the sea.

A visual depicting the oyster islands and their benefits

Oyster Islands - A legacy of economic, ecological and social growth

Designing with Submersion

Over time, the original harbour will become submerged due to rising sea levels. In my proposal, the floating islands continue to serve as functional spaces, retaining their role in the community even as the physical harbour area is gradually overtaken by water. These movable islands will remain in place, symbolizing the resilience and adaptation of both the landscape and the people who have lived alongside it.

As the harbour transitions to a submerged state, the floating islands act as a memorial to the community’s enduring relationship with the sea and the legacy of the harbour. They become a space for reflection, remembrance, and engagement, preserving the memory of the harbour’s historical significance while allowing future generations to experience its evolution.

This transformation not only preserves the space but also redefines it, turning what was once a site of industrial activity into a living symbol of adaptation and continuity, where people can connect with the shifting rhythms of the water. The islands thus carry forward the story of Dunbar’s relationship with the coast, honoring both its past and its future.

Oyster Islands of Amphibious Harbours through submersion

Designing through Submersion - Oyster Islands through time

Inspired by textures found during fieldwork, I explored how these forms could be used to create artificial marine habitats that support both ecology and coastal resilience. The tiles replicate natural environments like rock pools and reefs, and can be attached to harbour walls or integrated into repair works.

This not only reinforces structural integrity but also helps to combat coastal squeeze caused by sea level rise and development. By increasing habitat variety, these interventions strengthen local ecosystems, making them more resilient to environmental change and supporting the long-term health and productivity of the coastline.