Designing for the Future: Rising Sea Levels

“Climate change is the single greatest threat to a sustainable future” – Former UN Secretary General – Ban Ki-moon

In recent decades, projections of sea level rise have repeatedly been revised upward. Increasing instability within the West Antarctic Ice Sheet raises the possibility of abrupt and catastrophic global flooding should collapse occur.

This research project interrogates this scenario through a hypothesised case study set within The Fens, a low-lying landscape in eastern England historically shaped by drainage, engineering and human intervention. The study imagines a near-future condition in which the town becomes partially submerged. 

Rather than retreat, the study embraces adaptation. A network of floating structures is integrated within the inundated urban fabric, forming a new civic and residential layer above the flooded ground plane. The intervention prioritises material reclamation and adaptive reuse. Current discourse around this topic relies too heavily on reaction rather than developing proactive strategies.