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ARC, Greenham Common

Part 1 Project 2019
Rawan Alwahaibi
University of Reading | UK
ARC / Anthropocene, Greenham Common
Human intervention and control of the natural environment is radically changing our means of existence on this, our home planet. The Research Centre for Anthropocene (ARC) located on the redundant Greenham Common Plateau facilitates exploration, research and debate at a wider scale, within the newly intervened and diverse landscapes. The idea of 'forest' introduces a spectrum of controlled and interconnected spaces in the five differing landscapes.

The 'wild' outer landscapes follow a journey through to the highly controlled laboratories to analyse the controlled growth of chosen plant species. Facilities are deliberately centrally located on the edge of the old airbase runway, and the scattered, yet highly controlled plan, loosely defines the five forests. A pattern of buildings and landscapes express 'control' and define the journey from periphery to centre, which then expands to extended views of the landing strip. Each building is individually expressed materially and structurally, based on a precision of programme and location.

The armature plan allows a sense of enclosure to merge eventually with the outer landscape(s), creating an intimate link back to 'nature' and the horizon beyond. low carbon construction and passive environmental control are key to the underlying design philosophy.

Rawan Alwahaibi

Tutor(s)




2019
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