Only two miles from the sea, a large area outside Rye’s town centre was submerged for hundreds of years. Today, large areas of wetland and marshland have been formed. This makes Rye, East Sussex, a fertile ground for wildlife to inhabit; otters are a key species in the local wildlife. Otter activities have been recorded since 1864, published in the Otter Spotting manual by the East Sussex Wildlife Trust. Otters are at the top of the food chain, and any pollution in the river or wetland will result in a decline in their numbers; otters are therefore often seen as an indicator of the ecosystem’s health.

The project proposes a kindergarten with a habitation of otter holts to celebrate the coexistence of humans and nature. Local Sussex sandstone is used to investigate interlocking block structures for creating different thermal conditions for the kindergarten and otter holts.