Taja Dennis

Year 1 MArch

The Watershed Project

Morphology of Public Bathing Through Topographical Drainage
Aviemore, Scotland

The Watershed Project is a natural bathing landscape that turns Aviemore’s rising surface floods into a civic amenity. Working with simulated runoff models and existing topography, the scheme maps drainage corridors and carves a chain of multi-depth basins that collect, slow and mediate flash floods before they reach the River Spey. At the centre, a spring-fed pool offers year-round open-air swimming, its water cleared through reed beds, gravel ribbons and algae-rich biofilters.

A surrounding wetland matrix doubles as an irrigation and production ground. Elevated boardwalks stitch together algae ponds, rotational crop terraces, a micro distillery, studio lofts and a community kitchen, creating employment for the local town while mitigating excess water and nutrients. During dry months, the terraces reveal stepping lawns for picnics and wildlife viewing; when storms arrive, the excavations brim, turning pathways into causeways and displaying the fluid occupation of the water surface. Modular kiosks, changing rooms and a sheltered café float or anchor along the shifting edge, ensuring continuous access.

By choreographing variable water levels instead of resisting them, the project delivers flood resilience, ecological enrichment and a new culture of public bathing that celebrates and works with the Highlands’ volatile climate.