The climate emergency underlines the need to maximise the adaptation and reuse of buildings and safeguard embodied carbon. Equally, the pandemic has called into question the reliance of heritage on tourism, and together with the cost-of-living crisis, starkly underlines economic divides. Within these contexts Unit XVIII has focused on the grade II* listed Cefn Coed Colliery, in the Dulais Valley, on the western edge of the Welsh Valleys Region. Once the world’s deepest anthracite mine, nicknamed “the Slaughterhouse”, the mine ceased operation in 1968, reopening as a museum in 1986. Today its future remains uncertain, failing to reopen following the pandemic due to maintenance problems and financial concerns.
The students’ design theses make proposals for the site’s sustainable low carbon future, considering how it can adapt to help solve local, regional, and global challenges. Issues explored included low carbon design and economy; social inclusion; living heritage; the UK’s carbon legacy; and our role in tackling the climate emergency.
In February the unit visited the Ruhr Valley in Germany to study examples of adaptive reuse of industrial heritage, including the Zollverein World Heritage Site and Duisburg-Nord Landschaftspark.
The students’ final proposals will be presented to Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council’s Head of Leisure, Tourism, Heritage and Culture on the 20th June 2023.