Brief

MaUNSELL fORtS:Future Living on Water, uNITED KINGDOM

• The Maunsell Forts were built during World War II to defend Britain’s coast from enemy aircraft.

  Constructed in the 1940s, these massive steel and concrete structures rose out of the sea like small cities on stilts — strong, functional, and completely self-sufficient.

  Today, the forts are empty, weathered by salt and time, standing as monuments of human ingenuity and resilience.

  They remind us how architecture responds to urgent needs — and how even in crisis, design can be bold, experimental, and transformative.

  By reimagining the Maunsell Forts, this competition invites participants to learn from history, to look at what these structures represented, and to explore how we can reuse them for a new purpose in the age of climate change.

  Your task is to transform the Maunsell Forts into a new form of living.

  The design should:

• Reuse the Existing Forts

  Transform the Maunsell Forts by keeping their structure and adding new modular extensions using recycled and durable materials suitable for marine conditions.

• Create Resilient Living Spaces

  Design self-sufficient, flood-resistant habitats that show how people could live on water.

• Design Sustainable Systems

  Integrate renewable energy, water collection, and food production to make each fort energy-independent and environmentally circular.

• Make It Modular and Replicable

  The design should be flexible, movable, and scalable — a prototype that could be applied to other coastal or flood-affected areas around the world.