Strategies of Unmaking

There are three different strategies for different property types: general residential plots, plots along or above hidden waterways, and historically significant plots. Each property type will be reused, adapted, or protected depending on the plot’s conditions and contents. These strategies work for residential and commercial plots, but the examples shown are residential for this report.

The following pages outline a few possibilities for the different plot types and walk through the realisation of the new relationship between land and water through the lens of the adapt strategy.

Reuse

Most houses will fall into this category since it includes any property on the island’s interior that does not touch a waterway. The current residents of these houses would get to choose what happens to their homes.

The properties that will adapt are primarily along or above any hidden waterway. These houses would become the new front line between the land and the sea.

As more and more of these plots are transformed, they would create a series of connected public spaces and bring new habitats for plants and animals that do not exist today, boosting the island’s biodiversity.

Burying abandoned houses in hills creates new opportunities for play and recreation on top of the mounds, creating a more organic relationship between people and water.

Existing water areas like Canvey Lake would open up to the sea, creating a more dynamic landscape around the rise and fall of the tides.

A handful of buildings considered “historically significant” would be protected from rising sea levels in unique ways.

Protect

Allowing these waterways to become tidal also welcomes new areas for marine wildlife and richer, more diverse ecosystems.

The protected buildings would become special moments on the island, celebrating its quirks and unique personality.