Lucy Roper’s weekly Built Environment blog: Floating homes and a triangular skyscraper

Posted on: 2019-05-30

Each week, UCEM Information Governance Manager, Lucy Roper points us in the direction of interesting stories from the Built Environment.

This week, Lucy reflects on her marathon walk over the Bank Holiday weekend and brings us stories about a floating homes plan in Swansea and a controversial skyscraper set to be given the green light in Paris…

Getting out into the open

For those of who have just returned from a Bank Holiday weekend, I hope you had a great time and perhaps had the chance to get out in the fresh air, explore new places, and discovering and learn new things along the way.

If you regularly read these weekly blogs you will have started to paint a picture of the sort of person I am and know that when I am not working at UCEM I like nothing better than getting out into the great outdoors, whether to swim or walk, and am particularly interested in sites of special historic interest.

This weekend, I completed a marathon walk in the lovely county of Wiltshire that took in the sights and landmarks of Avebury containing the largest stone circle in Europe, The Ridgeway which is recognised as the oldest path in Britain with evidence of settlements stretching back over 5,000 years, and Stonehenge – one of the wonders of the world and the best-known prehistoric monument in Europe.

I also came across a large corrugated building that I thought was just a rusty old farm building …. only to discover that is was in fact a Second World War gymnasium, part of what used to be RAF Yatesbury. As they say: ‘never judge a book by its cover’.

Dragon Energy Island

Boasting a name that could feasibly feature as one of the racetracks on Super Mario Kart, the plans to create the world’s first tidal lagoon in Swansea are back on the agenda.

Swansea councillors commissioned an independent report into the financial viability of the Dragon Energy Island development after previously being knocked back by government, and the revised plans have been deemed affordable.

As well as featuring floating modular homes, the island would accommodate a tidal lagoon, an underwater data centre and a solar farm which would function as an alternative major renewable energy development in Swansea Bay.

Now all that’s needed is for an investor to step in to fund the project and planning approval – fingers crossed this isn’t the last we see of it!

Tour Triangle

Speaking of crossing fingers, plenty of people will be doing just this in hoping there’s a new twist in the saga of Herzog & de Meuron’s Tour Triangle.

The triangular skyscraper is set to become part of Paris’s skyline after a lengthy court battle came to an end with the verdict going in its favour. The design has proven very controversial with many viewing it as detrimental to the overall design of the capital city but the protestations may now fall on deaf ears with developer, Unibail-Rodamco aiming to complete the 180m tower in time for the 2024 Olympics.

For more from Lucy, take a look at the latest edition of Knowledge Foundations.