Richards Bay Harbour is one of South Africa’s most important industrial ports, yet decades of dredging, land reclamation, and heavy industrial activity have severely disrupted its estuarine systems. Sediment pollution, heavy metal accumulation, and mangrove degradation have weakened the harbour’s ecological resilience while disconnecting surrounding communities from the coastline. This project responds to these challenges through the design of a Marine Protection and Ecological Restoration Centre located on Naval Island, positioned at the intersection of industry, ecology, and public life.

The project reframes sediment pollution not only as an environmental problem, but as a catalyst for architectural and ecological regeneration. Grounded in Regenerative Design, Socio-Ecological Resilience Theory, and Urban Political Ecology, the proposal positions architecture as an active agent within natural systems rather than a passive object. The design integrates water filtration, ecological rehabilitation, research, and public education into a single adaptive framework.

At its core, the project introduces a layered water-filtration process that draws contaminated harbour water through settling basins, constructed wetlands, floating biofiltration systems, and restored mangrove edges. Filtered water is reused within the building for non-potable functions, directed into marine rehabilitation pools, or gently returned to the bay to support long-term estuarine recovery. Research laboratories and monitoring infrastructure allow ongoing testing and adaptation, ensuring the system evolves alongside environmental change.

Public access is carefully choreographed through a sequence of exhibition spaces, boardwalks, and observation decks that expose visitors to both the causes of pollution and the processes of ecological repair. By making environmental systems visible and accessible, the centre reconnects people with the harbour and reclaims the industrial edge as a shared civic and ecological space.
Ultimately, the project proposes a new model for coastal infrastructure, one that heals damaged ecosystems, supports scientific inquiry, and fosters environmental stewardship through architecture rooted in place, process, and regeneration.