The Green Steel Community Decides
This project envisions a digitalised, post-carbon future where industrial systems are shaped by the communities they serve. Centred on the former coal mining town of Whitehaven, it reimagines how locally owned green steel production can support social, economic, and environmental regeneration in West Cumbria.
Powered by hydrogen extracted from wastewater and renewable energy from solar and offshore wind, the proposed steelworks address the region’s legacy of neglect. At its core is the Central Building Decision Chamber, a civic space where workers and residents collectively shape the future of the industry and decide how its benefits are distributed. The Decision Chamber appears suspended within the Central Building, presenting transparency in decision making and forming visual connections with the sustainable steel production.
The project explores the architecture of decision-making, proposing a new model for democratic engagement in industrial towns. It draws from the past to inform a resilient, community-led transition to sustainable industry - placing people, not profit, at the centre of industrial development.
