Alney Island and Gloucester's Heritage

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View of original Warehouses 
The Docks - Gloucestershire Crime History

Heritage plays a vital role in Gloucester's identity and the city's strategy for regeneration and tourism. With nearly 2000 years of history as a significant settlement, Gloucester has heritage sites spanning from Roman foundations and medieval development to the Georgian/ Victoria Gloucester Docks - a key area of recent regeneration adjacent to Alney Island. 

The Docks have become a cultural hub in recent years, drawing visitors as an attractive amenity area. Due to the proximity, the Docks directly influence my design motives for Alney Island. During 19th-century industrialisation, the island transformed from farmland to support shipping. It housed timber yards, warehouses, a flour mill and railway sidings serving the docks, built 1811-1816. At its 1850s peak, the docks saw 500 ships and 100,000 tons of goods annually. Original warehouses still stand in The Docks, providing an important physical link to this industrial past and significant views from within the site. 

Since industry's 20th century decline, Alney Island is now a nature reserve, returning the landscape to its origins. However, as a post-industrial landscape near a cultural hub, my design will reference the island's industrial past, emphasising reclamation and blending past/future and natural/built environments in line with the city's heritage strategy. Alney Island provides a great opportunity to merge the two together, highlighting the success of the City's industrial past whilst emphasising its commitment to a greener, healthier and more sustainable future. 

Initial ideas include: 
- Sail/ship art installations 
- Wind energy art installations evoking the former flour mill 
- Reclaimed railway sleepers as a material 
- Incorporating warehouse views from within the site

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