Room For Improvement
Land use around Cambridge proves the hard edge created between urban and agricultural land, brought about in part, by the green belt
The floodplain of the River Cam between Milton and Waterbeach. North East Cambridge, UK
Existing proposal for the Cambridge Sport Lakes commits the site to sports and recreation infrastructure.
Combining land uses facilitated a new proposal for the Lake. An inclusive approach to the project combines amenity and ecology, by re-locating to a functioning floodplain.
The expansion of North East Cambridge as an employment centre, creates a demand for housing and infrastructure in the area. The lake project will use the earth displaced during excavation, to create new settlements along its length.
Inhabitation of the newly engineered landscape will deliver new housing in close proximity to jobs, a failing of the currently proposed satellite town of Northstowe and the proposed development of the Waterbeach Barracks.
Low level structures set on piles have the ability to rise and fall with the fluctuating water levels of the lake system, creating a riparian urban landscape.
Inhabiting the threshold between land and water connects the large scale development necessary for the project's viability to its ecological context.
A famously featureless landscape, heavily engineered by humans, the Fen Edge offers a context whereby this 'improved' landscape can embark upon its next iteration, to serve a broader range of functions beyond agriculture alone.
Terraced geometries follow the form of their displaced earth foundation. All earth will be redistributed around the lake system, keeping all displaced earth on site.
Amphibious settlements facilitate practical inhabitation of the floodplain, meaning that rather than displacing populations away from economic centres, we are able to foster community through proximity.
10B Riparian Housing Study.jpg
11 Riparian Housing Study.jpg
Single dwellings would occupy areas of ecological significance at a lower density than the principal settlements, decreasing impact and diversifying housing typologies.
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