Grangemouth Renewable Energy Plant

The design draws inspiration from the uses adjacent to the proposed site, container storage yards, in order to reflect the industrial character of the surrounding area and create a clear visual connection with Scotland’s largest container terminal. The design would function at long range as a distinct element within the setting of the Firth of Forth and within the context of the Helix park project. At the medium range, careful manipulation of the contrast between solid, void and transparency can help define the massing of the Biomass Renewable Energy Plant in an appropriate manner, while at close range, the design of the surface texture should be considered carefully to create an architectural response which is robust and appropriate for the setting. The initial move of the design approach is to visualise the various elements which make up the Biomass Renewable Energy Plant as piles of building blocks, using the standard cargo container dimension as a module, reflecting the precisely arranged stacks of containers found in the cargo terminal to the east. The height of these stacks containing the storage and screening areas generally relate to the scale of the surrounding port buildings, but increase in height towards the north where the turbine hall and boiler house are located. In order to create an identifiable element on the skyline, the upper levels of the boiler house are realised as a translucent, sculptural object, in contrast to the more solid elements below. The storage structures are separated from the ground by the creation of a translucent ground level, increasing the horizontal emphasis. The skin of the indicative design for the Biomass Renewable Energy Plant is conceived as a series of profiled metal sheet panels, giving the impression of a series of stacked containers. These stacks are then pulled, pushed and blocks removed, with the spaces in between being filled with polycarbonate panels. This allows light into the Biomass Renewable Energy Plant, and also helps to break down the mass of the large scale elements. The colour of the profiled metal panels drawn from the range of colours found in the adjacent container yard, with large scale industrial graphics and text potentially being used to convey information about the Biomass Renewable Energy Plant.