In the last centuries, an increase in urban construction has permanently altered the natural environment of sites of natural material extraction. Historical and current processes of quarrying reveal the exploitation, codependency, and power dynamic between humans and nature. Dorset’s abandoned quarries present an opportunity to restore lowland calcareous grasslands, reversing the historical and continuous loss of this vital habitat.

The project proposes to transform Winspit Quarry into a nursery to redescribe, utilise, and stabilise past industrial scarring, acting as an anchor to spread habitats in Dorset. It aims to re-introduce native lowland calcareous grasslands, creating a new form of economy.

The project's strategy promotes a return to local materials and natural cycles, converting the migration process of stone and wind dispersal to spreading habitat recolonisation. Tangible and intangible resources like light, wind, vegetation, agriculture, land, material, labour, and biodiversity are utilised. Nurseries facilitate missing ecological and economic interactions, mediating the complex geological, environmental, and material transformation of the post-industrial ruins.