The northern hemisphere is home to ectomycorrhizal root systems–networks of fungi that connect tree roots forming what some environmentalists call the ‘Wood-Wide-Web’. These fungi act as major carbon sinks, yet now face decimation as the result of rising temperature.

The London Borough of Camden has one of the highest rates of tree-cover in Britain, at around 30% of its surface area, making it a site of urban and ecological interest. The scheme investigates the opportunities offered by the borough’s industrial past as the former international centre for piano manufacture to suggest a new piano factory and connected public forest on an adjacent area of Hampstead Heath and a former coal-drop yard beyond.

The project proposes that to adapt Gospel Oak to be suitable for a dense ecological forest, the existing urban soundscape needs to be manipulated and enriched. Acoustics are hence vital for the project, especially given that trees grow best in rich ecological forests with soundscapes which sit between 115-250Hz. The project investigates the opportunities offered by piano manufacturing to create a new soundscape that would be in sympathy with the associated forest that provides the required timber.