The Mancunian Ark
Interdisciplinary Landscape Architecture / Architecture project pair with Mariya Pathan.
Our thesis project ‘The Mancunian Ark’ addresses the urban sprawl of cities resulting in an ever-increasing amount of devasting climate change events such as flooding and polluted surface run-off cases. This project places the importance on water, allowing it to interact with the building and the human and non-human stakeholders it supports. The main concept for the project was inspired by the story of Noah’s Ark, as the building becomes a beacon of hope and survival for those who have suffered the injustices of poorly considered built environments.
The project provides space for vulnerable humans and non-humans within the building structure and around it, considering the needs of both. The project also implements a programme based on circular economic principles which not only supports the human community in a regenerative way, but also works alongside the landscape to support non-humans through the provision of food and shelter.
The project aims to minimise embodied carbon through the adaptive reuse of the existing building fabric. Through using natural, renewable, and local materials the project is estimated to meet the RIBA 2030 Challenge. Through this we aim to show how the future of development should involve the re-use of more existing buildings, instead of new builds, to cut down on the construction industry’s contribution to climate change.
