Methodology

1. Field-based research to develop a structure in response to the architectural vernacular of the Thames Estuary

To develop Flood House’s form, certain estuarial-vernacular architectural forms and materials were referenced to create a hybrid design, including fishing sheds, decommissioned boats and Second World War pillboxes. To find these vernaculars, Butcher utilised local knowledge of the area from individuals and institutions in and around Canvey Island and Southend. This included conversations with the curators at the Bay Museum and Research Centre on Canvey Island and correspondents with Beyond the Point, a local amateur organisation seeking to map and record forgotten or hidden structures. Butcher personally visited the coastline around Canvey Island, photographing and surveying specific sites of interest that could be considered as estuary vernaculars. The purpose of the exercise was to generate a formal and material logic for the structure, reminiscent of the estuary but unusual enough to generate intrigue.

19 Beached and rusted boat on the River Roach.

2. Theoretical and historical research into representations of the environment in art and architecture from the 1960s and 70s

The purpose of this research was to identify specific formal, material and spatial strategies first developed in the 1960s and 70s as global warming and its effects began to be more broadly discussed. The influence of Gianni Pettena’s artwork Red Line (Siege) (1972) can be seen in Flood House. Pettena and his students drove a pickup truck around Salt Lake City and visualised the ephemeral border of the urban environment with red paint. Flood House was influenced by Pettena’s desire to highlight how such borders determine our understanding of what is urban and what is rural, and how such precepts relate the political and social to nature. Flood House specifically follows the path of the sea defence wall, emphasising the way this infrastructure has defined the nature of the estuary landscape, dividing it into areas of tidal mudflat and urban and suburban development. This division is artificially created; without the sea wall these two conditions would be much less defined.

20 Gianni Pettena and students with the pickup truck used in the creation of Red Line (Siège), 1972.

21 Gianni Pettena, Red Line (Siège), 1972. Map of painted route following the city limits.

22 Sea navigational map showing the route taken by Flood House along the Thames Estuary, including its journey to the River Roach. The route is depicted by a black and blue line.

3. Collaboration with individuals, companies and regulatory bodies who have specific knowledge of the complex river environment of the Thames Estuary

These collaborations were necessary to navigate the complexity and safety of Flood House in the estuary – one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world – and develop the logistics of moving it from site to site. Thames-based contractors Hart Marine and Elliot Berry Marine Surveyors developed the logistics. They advised on the best means of floating the structure, placing it on Unifloat pontoons that are generally used by the British Military to construct temporary harbours. The use of the pontoons was important as they could be reused.

Complex and lengthy negotiations were undertaken with the bodies that manage river traffic in the Thames Estuary – the Port of London Authority, Natural England, Southend Pier and Foreshore Authority and the Crouch Harbour Authority – to ensure the unique nature of the project was logistically possible and met with complex regulations. One of these conversations prompted Butcher to deviate from an initial design proposal where the structure was piled into the estuary’s mudflats. It was also suggested that a floating structure would be more dynamic and less invasive to the environment. Natural England were consulted to ensure that the structure’s mooring in the estuary would not have any adverse effects on its eco systems or local wildlife.

23 Flood House moored in the Thames Estuary at Southend Foreshore. 24–5 Hart Marine digging mooring adjacent to Southend Pier.

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26 Initial design for piled fixed structure.

27 Piled fixed structure flooded at high tide.

4. Design and development of technical iterations for materialising a floating construction that is robust enough to survive and adapt to the fluctuating environmental conditions of the river and estuary

Naval architects Rachel Pawling and Ema Muk-Pavic were consulted to ensure the buoyancy of the structure and assess its stability and durability. They produced computational models in a variety of environmental conditions associated with the estuary. These models defined the final form of the structure, which needed to evenly distribute its weight across the surface of the pontoons.

Structural engineer Tim Lucas advised on the structure’s durability. The structural system employed in the final design was a bespoke semi-monocoque structure that allowed it to maintain its formal complexity. This structural system allowed for it to be built in fragments that were easy to transport from the workshop in London to Canvey Island. This system also allowed for easy assembly in the estuary, where individual segments were craned onto the Unifloat pontoons and bolted together.

28 Diagram of stability for Flood House showing possible lateral movement experienced in various high-wind conditions. 29 Diagram showing two different pontoon hull designs for Flood House, comparing the speed that each can be towed versus potential drag.

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30 Structural design development drawing.

31 Early structural design development sketches. 32 (overleaf) Early construction diagrams, showing fixing of main structure to the Unifloat Pontoons.

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5. A rigorous curatorial process to ensure delivery of a working project that is a significant and innovative interdisciplinary event

Lengthy discussions and planning took place with the curatorial team. This included detailed research into artists and writers who could produce work that related to the main themes of the structure; and then carefully developing briefs which the commissioned artist and writer could respond to. Two significant works emerged from this process.

Artist, Ruth Ewan, made a weathervane that was situated on the roof of Flood House. The title of the work, All Distinctions Levelled, is taken from a speech by the fourteenth-century priest and political activist John Ball, and refers to the concept of social equality as well as the rise and fall of the tide. In conjunction with this, the Electric Belles choir performed Sydney Carter’s song ‘John Ball’ at an event held on Southend Pier.

Joanna Quinn was commissioned to write a short science fiction story, which she entitled Mudlark. Quinn imagined the inhabitation of Flood House in a near future when flooded land is commonplace. The story was published on the project’s website and extracts were read at various public events. It provides detailed descriptions of the structure, how it would act as a dwelling within a landscape that is flooded and the lives of its inhabitants who collect data on pollution in the water: ‘for those who might find this planet in the future, so they could see what happened to us’ (Quinn 2019, p. 2). It is a detailed portrayal of life off-grid, dictated by the movements of the tide. Quinn developed the description of the structure’s interior from initial designs by Butcher; the finished structure could not be boarded due to restrictions imposed by the Port of London Authority. The story was critical in enabling people to imagine themselves on the structure.

To further develop the scope and nature of the educational and public programme, Butcher worked with FPG’s education and public programmes officer Sharon Byrne. Through this consultation, Byrne and Butcher specifically utilised existing connections with local schools to set up a series of educational workshops in conjunction with the themes of Flood House. Participants engaged in a range of activities, including writing stories to imagine what living in a floating house would be like. Students from Southend’s Westborough School and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School took part in these workshops.

To engage with an as large and varied audience as possible, Butcher and FPG consulted with the public relations company Albany Arts to develop local and national publicity strategies. What was important in this process was to engage with writers interested in ecology, climate change and flooding.

33 Electric Belles singing ‘John Ball’ by Sydney Carter at the launch event for Flood House on Southend Pier. 34 Ruth Ewan, All Distinctions Levelled, 2016.

35–7 Initial designs for Flood House, including the structure’s unrealised interior that was used by Joanna Quinn in the development of Mudlark.

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