Developed from explorations of light filtration systems, the design aspires to reinvent Dungeness’ iconic pictorial identity through a photography gallery complex masterplan. The project is situated within the boundaries of the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway track roundabout at the edge of Dungeness, a vast shingle beach in Southeast England. The masterplan consists of multiple photography galleries, each housing distinct genres of photography, a workshop and multifunctional space, a restaurant, and an in-house artist’s residence. The architecture will be built on a parametrically designed landscape, exaggerating the beach’s subtle fluctuating terrain and allowing it to choreograph the circulation of visitors by concealing and revealing significant views around the site. Parts of the landscape will be flooded during high tides–some sections being below the sea level–to become an ecological mesocosm; an artificial marshland extending the Dungeness National Park.

The materiality of each gallery is tailored to evoke spatial atmospheric qualities that respond to the exhibited pieces and framed views, with forms sensitive to its context. Viewpoints within each building were designed with miniscule pieces and details carefully positioned to frame the new photographic icons of Dungeness according to the mood and theme of each gallery. These simulate the click of a camera shutter when aligned.