This project explores the lost shale oil industry of West Lothian, Scotland, where fossil fuels were first extracted from the earth on an industrial scale. Over the course of a century, from 1856 to 1962, approximately 75 million barrels of oil and 500 billion cubic feet of gas were produced from the shale mines of West Lothian.

Marks of the shale oil industry are still visible across this post-extraction landscape. Its most prominent legacies are the spoil heaps or ‘bings’, which rise from the surrounding lowlands. Once seen as a blight, the more recent discovery of biodiverse habitats that have developed on their surface through primary succession has re-cast them as remote islands providing sanctuary to flora and fauna amid a predominantly urban and agricultural landscape.

The project focuses on the village of Winchburgh, which is currently undergoing significant expansion. The design aims to challenge the proposed masterplan by foregrounding West Lothian’s rich natural and cultural heritage. The bings are retained as a refuge from encroaching development, while simultaneously making them-and the unique material they consist of-an integral part of an expanding Winchburgh.