MATERIAL EXPLORATIONS

A Waste Aesthetic

This project adopts the popular design approach to materiality of reflecting the local landscape. However it also aims to go a step further by integrating the materiality of the project in existing systems of material production. Specifically it aims to provide a new place for what is currently being treated as waste material in the local area. This conscious decision to make 'waste' visible - as the project's aesthetic - is founded in the hope of inspiring greater sustainability with greater awareness around the true life cycle of materials and their carbon footprint.

Mycelium

This diagram displays the use of mycelium as a key material in the project - involving the local whiskey industry in the production of the material and creating a circular, renewable use of the material across the site.

Seashells

This proposal to create pathways made of seashells involves the local fishing industry. The fishing industry has suffered from the development of the oil and gas industry in the Firth as well as growing competition from large scale commercial fishing. This proposal can help support this industry by providing an outlet for its waste product of shells. This material has a much lower carbon footprint than conventional gravel used for paths which often have to be excavated - damaging local habitat and releasing carbon.

Timber

This material is readily available in the upper patch of the commons network where there is large areas of commercial forestry. This proposal draws this site into the process of woodland diversification. As timber is felled at strategic locations, native broadleaf trees can be planted in their place beginning the proces of woodland diversification. Felled timber can then be used for natural play, board walks and other desired structures where necessary.

Impermanent / Living / Natural/ Local / Renewable

Hedgerow Composition

Planting of hedgerows in the site will follow the structural pattern shown in this diagram - taken from research on a healthy hedgerow composition

Natural Infrastructure

As well as providing sustainance for human and more-than humans from the mixed species planted, hedgerows will also act as architectural insfrastructure providing screening along pathways to protect wildlife from being threatened by human presence, whilst also providing human visitors a view into the wild landscapes. In this way the hedgerow acts as a mediator between striking a healthy balance between the interaction of humans and wildlife.

Mother of the Oak

The existance and planting of hedgerows allows for germination of bramble across the site which supports the emergence of wood-pasture habitat by providing a safe undisturbed shelter for the growth of saplings such as the Oak.

Planting Species

Based on the UK BAP Priority Habitat list these are the native species for Scottish hedgerows which will be planted across the site

‘Laying hedges as field boundaries using a rich variety of tree and shrub species would, in the not so distant past, have served the additional purpose of providing livestock with an extra source of nutrition and opportunities for self-medication’

Isabella Tree, Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm, p.252

MATERIAL EXPLORATIONS

A Waste Aesthetic

Mycelium

Impermanent / Living / Natural/ Local / Renewable

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Kate Saldanha | Intelligent Wilderness | MLA University of Edinburgh | 2021