Project description

Fragile Edges, Shifting Grounds explores the coastal landscape of East Lothian through a lens of ecological cooperation. The site is in Belhaven Bay. It is a dynamic landscape sculpted by the tides, dunes and salt marshes together with freshwater rivers. There are no clear boundaries, only a landscape that is constantly being pushed by wind and water.

 

Instead of resisting natural forces like tidal incursion or dune erosion, the project embraces the shifting nature of the land and proposes a design language rooted in acceptance. Through sediment-guiding structures and minimal interventions, it invites nature to lead the transformation process. This project reflects a shift from control to coordination—acknowledging that true collaboration with the environment often means letting go, listening, and allowing natural rhythms to take precedence.

While the masterplan outlines a system shaped by tides, wind, and sediment, the following future scenes bring these dynamics to life. Each visualisation captures a moment in the evolving landscape—where design meets uncertainty, and nature continues to lead the transformation. These future scenarios offer glimpses into how fragility can become resilience through collaboration with the elements.

Growing Free --- Coir Rolls

In the design intervention, the coconut fiber blanket becomes a flexible Fmedium that “assists natural succession”. It does not control the flow of the utide, but creates a time and space in which it can grow.

This drawing depicts the process of plants taking root on this natural fiber uand reweaving the ecology of the salt marsh.

Growing Free --- Coir Rolls
Growing Free --- Coir Rolls
Model simulating the process of beach erosion Ⅰ
Model simulating the process of beach erosion Ⅰ
Model simulating the process of beach erosion Ⅱ
Model simulating the process of beach erosion Ⅱ
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