Fishermen's Paradise

Project idea

Fishermen's Paradise begins with a problem of a decline in global fish population, driven by reckless overfishing and a culture that treats the sea as limitless. This project proposes that a response of redefining our relationship with fishing, shifting from extraction towards stewardship. Sited along a heavily populated river in Bristol, the project gathers residents who share a love of fishing, cooking and eating fish as a family. By introducing a catch and release technique on the river, the community turns fishing from taking into an act of care and preservation.

Project description

The project is a multi-unit residential development organised around the cycle of catching, growing, cooking and eating together. Each flat has its own private pier, used for catch and release fishing and for the parking of boats that residents can take to fish at other rivers across the city. Private herb gardens run through the scheme, irrigated by a sustainable water cycle that links rainwater, irrigation and the kitchen. This means that the herbs are grown on site and are cooked together with the fish residents catch. At the heart of the project is a water square. It is an adaptable space that holds rainwater during rain (It rains a fair bit in Bristol) and transforms into a social space where residents gather during sunny days.

Technical information

The primary structure uses glulam beams as the structural support for the aluminium roofing. They are also used to support the lime stone chimney in the communal cooking space where there is a grill for hot smoking under. The timber concept continues at the interior of the dwellings where wooden flooring carries the warmth of the structure into the living room, and extends out onto hardwood piers that connect the water to the housings. The exterior of the residential and communal space towards the street are made with lime render, while the east facade facing the water is made with fish scale zinc cladding. The contrast between the fish scale zinc cladding and the lime render, implies the secret fishing obsession that the residents share.

Documentation

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