My project aims to provide energy and heating to the homes of Manchester through the energy-from-waste method, integrating the cycles of waste that we often take for granted in urban areas into a landmark design that combines raw industrial function with the physical landscape qualities of the Medlock Valley below. Inspired by infrastructural landscape architecture by the likes of Basil Spence's Trawsfynydd Power Station in North Wales, I aimed to propose an energy generating site to rehabilitate the surrounding environment.
An adjoined visitor centre, focused on education for local school groups, provides an exhibition space, workshop, classroom and café, as well as a glazed walkway traversing the length of the site to the adjoined automated recycling complex, allowing visiting groups to observe the production process from finish to start and deliver a greater awareness of where our energy comes from and the importance of recycling.
This project has grown from a passion for Britain's postwar infrastructural architecture and its' growth, regeneration and decay. As ubiquitous parts of the urban landscape in urban England, I am interested in these structures and how they will continue to affect our contemporary architecture and how we can adapt them to the age of the climate crisis.
