Carving a (Decay)dent Space Part 1 Project 2025 Oliver Petch Queen's University Belfast | UK This individual project explores the thesis that understanding and improving urban conditions begins with diagnosing the health of their primary environmental drivers - in this case, rivers. The design centres around improving the conditions of the Lagan, Blackstaff, and Farset rivers in Belfast, whose historical and ecological significance have shaped the urban landscape.Rising sea levels in harbour cities is the first indicator of how the death of a city’s primary environmental drivers are leading to urban decay. Using this theoretical framework, I could then produce an architecture that draws attention to constant rising sea levels. My theoretical framework informed the use case of my new building as an open-air restaurant/cafe in the city centre that sits above a constantly flooding SUD scheme to serve as a continuous reminder, to those that have power, of the ever-encroaching tide.Rendered in a digital twin, my design process enabled seamless integration between macro urban strategies and human-scale interventions, allowing the project to function both as a social space and a speculative vision of resilient urban futures. Ultimately, the project aims to re-establish a connection between Belfast’s people and its rivers, offering a poetic and pragmatic response to environmental decline and urban transformation. Tutor(s)