The UK currently faces a water crisis – the Environment Agency warns that under existing policy frameworks, the country will run short of water within the next 25 years. An Institute of Chalk River Restoration is proposed in Chichester, England, a city which stands as a prime example of vulnerable areas experiencing persistent water stress. Chalk rivers and aquifers account for 60% of the UK’s groundwater sources. Located on chalk grounds, the Institute aims to mitigate threats to their ecosystems, and by extension, our water source which is at risk due to the nationwide water shortage.

Rivers of Albion explores interactions between chalk and water through its materials and structure, creating spaces that fuse with river processes and help restore its natural meander over time. A radical discourse on climate urgency is prompted using a series of landscape paintings that evoke a sense of nostalgia unique to the English identity. By establishing the Institute as a picturesque image within the Chichester landscape, the architecture transcends its functional role of river restoration and instils an ecological agenda into the everyday.