30/10/2025
Congratulations to Ciaran Magee from Hall Black Douglas, on winning the RSUA Design Competition for Early Career Architects.
‘To Flow Together’ proposed a concrete and lightweight metal structure, situated by the Lagan towpath which would collect falling rainwater in a central planter encircled by bench seating to create a place to take shelter, commune, and experience the collection of rainwater.
This proposal takes the inward sloping form of the Roman compluvium roof and explodes it into a series of cascading fabric planes suspended within a lightweight metal structure. This frame is elevated by four columns constructed from precast concrete manhole chamber rings. As rain falls, the ‘sails’ gather rainwater from above and all four sides, directing it down the planes, pitter-pattering to a central planter formed from a larger manhole chamber base.
‘The Water Canon’ brief challenged Early Career Architects to propose creative ideas for a public outdoor installation to make people think about our relationship with water. It presented an opportunity to engage the public in a celebration of rainfall and water, to increase public awareness of the unique importance of water, to highlight the challenges faced by our water system and to potentially showcase ideas for how water can be better integrated into our built environment.
The competition was sponsored by JP Corry.
