Claudia Ava Glashoff

EMBERS is an Environmental and Conservation Research Centre situated within Walker Bay Nature Reserve in the Overstrand, South Africa. The architectural intervention is grounded in the site’s ecological fragility, historical layering, and spatial complexity. Located within the endangered fynbos biome, where invasive species have altered the natural environment, the work explores how architecture can participate in ecological repair within sensitive environments without imposing further strain. The site holds a long human presence, from early Stone Age inhabitants to those who live and work nearby today, prompting questions about how design can foster continuity across time. The centre becomes a place of care, where restoration, research, and community engagement come together. Rather than framing architecture as separate from its environment, the intervention considers how built form might participate in the life of the landscape. It proposes a spatial response that supports ecological endurance and collective memory through attentiveness and reciprocity.