Norwich in 2115: Is this what it’ll look like?

Port Sustainable Norwich by Chris Lappin. A design predicting what Norwich may look like in 2115, submitted by LSI Architects.. (Image: Chris Lappin)

The image featured an enormous rocket-ship-like aviation tower in the middle of the city. Eighty years on from its original publishing, this image, which was shown in the Norwich Evening News in October, has inspired a team of architects to repeat his creativity: sharing their visions for Norwich in 2115.

Matthew Reeve, architectural assistant at LSI Architects, Norwich, said: 'We were fascinated by Walter Watling's drawing of Norwich in 2035, and were inspired to come up with some predictions of our own for what Norwich might look like in 100 years.

'We often set small design challenges as an opportunity for everybody to test their skills and so we set the challenge for everybody to come up with some ideas.'

Port of Norwich, by Ben Wall, London

A design predicting what Norwich may look like in 2115, submitted by LSI Architects. (Image: Ben Wall)

'A lot of artistic licence has been used but the idea is based around a situation where a large portion of the country has been permanently flooded due to rising sea levels caused by climate change. As opposed to this being seen as something that permanently damages the UK, the vision intends to demonstrate how we could recover and adapt.'

Post-sustainability World by Chris Lappin, Norwich

'Terry Pratchett and his fictional city Ankh Morpork was the inspiration behind my vision of Norwich in 2115, which centres around the rapidly rising population. The drawing shows that the planning department has been dissolved to allow growth in the city but this has led to organised chaos with lots of new buildings and infrastructure,'

Norwich: European Green City of the Year 2115, by Peter Hughes, London

Norwich: European Green City 2015. A design predicting what Norwich may look like in 2115, submitted by LSI Architects. (Image: Peter Hughes)

'I thought it would be interesting to contemplate how the City might develop if we assume the environmental issues are resolved as best they can be, which is a big ask. I also believe the centre of Norwich will be preserved relatively intact, but the will be expansion upwards as shown in the sketch.'

A Brine City, by Derek Jackson, Norwich

'A lot of future scenarios suggest that flooding will play a major part in British life - whether it's as drastic as I've shown here remains to be seen. However, in this image I was keen to show a slightly optimistic view of a flooded city, where life has changed to work with the water rather than against it.'