ALICE ANNA FORD

Developed as Alice Anna Ford’s architectural thesis, this project comprises three linked components:
(A) a written Exegesis,
(B) an Infrastructure Catalogue, and
(C) selection of Drawing Tracings.

The research centres on a model of gradual managed retreat for APACE Native Plant Nursery, outlining two possible futures: remaining on the existing site or relocating in response to projected flooding along the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River).

Each scenario was developed through coordinated social, ecological, and built infrastructure strategies projected across a 100-year timeframe. A connecting path links both sites, allowing APACE’s program to operate independently in either location as conditions change.

Volunteer-led events and materially accessible construction methods were treated as core components to the porject. Design decisions prioritised elements that could be maintained, assembled, and adapted by the community using easily available resources.

Through archival research and site tracing, a wetland proposal supported by a levee regenerated the shoreline while extending APACE’s long-standing commitment to ecological renewl. Precedent studies and painting informed the design of a linear shed, conceived as a flexible public structure accommodating accessibility and shifting programmatic needs over time.

Rather than resolving into one single built outcome, the project functions as adaptable framework.

The social, ecological, and architectural toolkits developed were intended for application across other community organisations situated along the Derbarl Yerrigan.

The work positions managed retreat not solely as an architectural response, but as a communal event.

2021/10/20 The Legacy of APACE Nursery

CATALOGUE : archived

LOCATION : Whadjuk Country, Walyalup, Western Australia

WITH : APACE

this project is dedicated to Tony