Shinglecrete Pier

Date: 2023 Sep - Apr 2024
University of Greenwich, Advanced Design Studio, Professional Practice of Landscape Architecture
Author: Hannes Aava
Tutors: Ed Wall, Helena Rivera, Benz Kotzien

About: 

The design studio was situated in a nature reserve and an SSSI site on the Languard peninsula that is dominated by a rare and delicate vegetated shingle habitat. The context of the site is heavily affected by the neigbouring Port of Felixstowe, UK’s largest container port, and remnants of military infrastructure from different historical periods. 

The design proposes a neomodernist pier that uses shinglecrete, a speculative, locally sourced and more ethical version of concrete that localises the use of materials. This makes visible the ethical dilemmas of materials used in the construction industry which are generally disguised in the opaque global chains of material sourcing. The pier’s appearance changes with the tidal intervals and features crevices designed for the aquatic species to inhabit. The block geometrical appearance was inspired by the work of Italian architect Carlo Scarpa, basalt rock formations and the World-War 2-era anti-tank block found on the beach near the project area that, as research and visual inspection confirmed, included locally sourced shingle as the aggregate.

As part of the compulsory deliverables of the course, the project features a ‘tapestry’ – a multi-layered landscape architectural model for expressing the narrative of the project in various spatial and temporal scales.