Hu Hong

Design Context

The project's site is located near Dunkeld & Birnam, a small town in central Scotland. In terms of the wider spatial context, the site is located near the Highland Boundary.

The dominant site type on my chosen site is woodland, with plantation covering a much larger area than the broadleaf forests on the site.

However, plantations can lead to loss of biodiversity, poor soils, acidified water and a lifeless landscape for the whole natural system. Besides, the emergence of plantation disrupts systems and bonds of species-to-species communication and also lead to imbalances in ecosystems and unequal human-non-human relationships. However, the water, soil and living world interact are quite critical to the Earth.

The UK climate may also face a wetter and windier scenario in the future, with plantation species often taller and have smaller canopies, which may struggle to cope with future weather extremes.

Residents living near the site rarely use the dense, dark coniferous plantation which are on the hillside. Many residents choose to walk through the broadleaf woodland in the mountains or walk their dogs, while backpackers and mountain bikers who usually come here to explore also prefer to use the broadleaf forest.

Because the conifers on the site were first planted at different times, this presents the site have plantations with different phases now. Based on what I got from the fieldwork and comparing it to the satellite map, I have divided the phases of the plantation on the site into clearing, young tree, term 1, term 2, term 3, which will relate to the temporal changes in the design proposal.

Proposals on the Larger Scale

On the larger scale of the site (1:2500 on A0 size), I focus on the problems posed by plantations from the future, human, and more-than-human perspectives, addressing more of the environmental pressures caused by plantations.The ecological transformation of the whole site is mainly carried out from the coniferous plantation, riparian zone with plantation and pasture. The Camp/park on the site is designed to help this ecological process and release the site from human control and dominance.

The main woodland type on the existing site is plantation, with phases in terms 1, 2, and 3.

After 10 years, the plantation with young trees going to term 1, the plantation in term 1 going to term 2, the plantation in term 2 going to term3. The plantation in term 3 has introduced native plants during this decade.The site has been set up with appropriate areas such as a tree nursery, wildflower cultivation, workshops, etc. In addition, the activities of the residents are enhanced in order to increase the economic income of the area.

After 30 years, plantation in term 1, term 2 going to term 3. The plantation in term 3 has introduced native plants during these 2 decades.

After 50 years, most plantations has introduced native plants. The reduction in the area of the tree nursery on the site is primarily because the woodland on the site has reached a self-sustaining, self-regulating stage and no longer requires extensive plant resources, as well as to provide more growing areas for native plants.