Water is set to become one of the most pressing issues of the 21st century. Dunoon, on the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, is a low-lying coastal community which is predicted to be entirely flooded within the next 100 years. The proposal, leading on from the research completed as part of the first project, looks at the strategic resettlement of the community to the higher hinterlands behind.

The proposed set of wide span timber buildings are to be built within the first five years of the strategy, beginning the gradual migration, resettlement and growth of the community. This process is known as ‘managed retreat’ and involves permanently moving people away from flood risk. Primarily these buildings will house an assembly hall, offices, a collectively run kitchen and set of temporary residences. On site is a landscaping scheme designed to work in conjunction with the buildings to manage water as both a risk and a resource. Key facets of the project include material efficiency in the use of timber for creating wide span, adaptable spaces, as well as a sensitivity to the immediate ecological and geological context of the Scottish landscape.