Field Guide to an Urban Nature: Designing for ecological democracy on McNabs Island

Abstract

In the middle of the city and on the edge of the ocean, McNabs and Lawlor Islands Provincial Park is an expansive protected area in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Atlantic Canada’s largest metropolitan area. Given its location at the mouth of the Halifax Harbour, the park is in a strategically important position to inform Halifax’s adaptation to the changing climate and the associated rise in sea level. This thesis considers the capacity of architecture to adapt to and teach us about changing natural and cultural conditions of the landscape in the face of climate change and sea level rise. The project proposes a network of prefabricated and autonomous ‘field stations’ that encourage active engagement with the changing landscape. The network of small scale buildings demonstrate an array of strategies for coastal adaptation, each with a site specific connection to the water/land and local ecology/history.