Air, Architecture + Other Climates
[50.9193° : Climate Futures] - 21/22
John Cook, Ben Pollock + Laura Nica

Carl Fletcher

Year 1 MArch

The Avian Sanctum

Infrastructural Repurposing
Dungeness, UK

From June 2021 the Dungeness B power station went into its de-fuelling stage and the process of decommissioning. I wondered whether the redundant pylons could be reused for another purpose as it seemed a waste to dismantle and recycle them. My project developed various elements as the pylons represented an opportunity to explore bringing people onto the site by creating an opportunity for them to view the landscape from a vantage point. The wrap-around external stairs and elevated nature trail were created for people to enjoy the existing landscape while reducing their footfall impact on the shingle landscape. My building uses the annual pattern of the wind as the base plan to shield the bird aviary to provide a comfortable environment for endangered birds.

The pylons are located on land owned by various stakeholders and there are current Easements and Wayleaves in place that determine access to the existing pylon structures. I was drawn to the pylons located on the RSPB land as a characteristic of the pylons is their height and I thought of tall trees, and bird nests. There was an incongruity about seeing pylons on a nature reserve and I wanted to explore this idea of pylon/tree further. Dungeness is on the bird migratory route and provides habitat for many bird species. Some birds that prefer to nest at higher levels move to the other sites as Dungeness has no tall trees. Using the data from CFD and further wind data, I explored the idea of using the pylons as a host structure to create a nesting area for birds. The height of the pylons meant that there could be a variety of birds inhabiting the structure at different levels and at different times in the year.