Dundee Renewable Energy Plant

The design for the Dundee Biomass Renewable Energy Plant aims to create a marker on the Dundee skyline and Firth of Tay beyond, symbolic of a sustainable future, making use of solid, void, light and transparency to define the mass of the plant in an appropriate manner. Drawing on the unique qualities of the site on the water’s edge, and evoking the imagery of Dundee’s maritime past, the design uses the metaphor of the long ship, a 21st century Discovery, as a means of bringing order and identity to the disparate elements of the Biomass Renewable Energy Plant Adoption of the long ship as precedent creates a clear visual separation between the lower linear storage structures and the high level boiler equipment in order to reduce the sense of bulk and increase the drama of the skyline element. The lower level elements are comparable in scale to the existing port facilities. Subtly decreasing the width of the higher elements also help stop the Renewable Energy Plant as reading top heavy. The main structure is separated from the quayside by the creation of a translucent ground level, which visually reduces the apparent height of the storage areas by increasing the horizontal emphasis. This gives the sense the station is hovering above the quayside, about to begin a journey. The form of the Renewable Energy Plant is profiled in section to create a shadowed overhang, giving a strong visual separation even during daylight hours. The skin surrounding the Renewable Energy Plant is envisaged as a series of panels of varying sizes held off a structural frame. These panels would be comprised of materials commonly found in the industrial landscape of the port – profiled metal sheet in a subtle variety of tones and finishes. Gaps interspersed between the panels could allow the skin to avoid being read as a single, monolithic object, while also allowing the opportunity for views and glimpses through to the waterfront from the city to the north.