Andrew Billington

AMPHBITECTURE | INSTITUTE FOR ECOLOGICAL FISHING TECHNOLOGY

To Sustain, we must Educate. To Educate we must Invest in people and new technology. The IEFT in Haiyan is an architectural beacon for the research, development and education of new ecological fishing techniques sat upon the Dian Lake. The Institute itself is perched upon the banks of the Lake with a curved waved form that reaches out into the water creating a central marina for boats to dock and new fishing technologies to launch reaching out to the forgotten fishing communities. The main building is split into 4 parts to educate locals, research fishing ecology and develop state-of-the-art technology, as well as separate laboratory and market/banqueting hall within separate buildings on the edge of the site. A key focus of the design of the building was to give it an ‘amphibious’ identity where it would be part of the Lake and connect the researchers, educators and students to the water. With a primary structural frame of GluLam, sustainable building techniques are considered within the scheme with a vision to make the building feel aligned to surrounding woodland as well as connected to the lake.