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01-09-20
Pluto II: The Existing Structure and Historical Context
01.09.20
Pluto Pump Houses 3
'Land Based Operations' . Pluto - Pipeline Under the Ocean © Combined Operations
The Pluto buildings were built during World War 2 as part of the Pluto project to send fuel through a series of undersea pipes to France in support of the D-Day landings. The distinct low-lying oblong buildings are randomly positioned and purposely designed to conceal and protect the machinery from enemy attack. Large conundrums [cone-ended drums] of flexible reinforced pipework were placed from Dungeness across the English Channel by boat.

The building is currently derelict and has been used as rough storage since 1945. The layout of the building will take advantage of the existing window and door openings and retain the existing ‘false’ windows as a memory of the building’s original purpose. These were simple insets in the facade to fool enemy aircraft to think the building was a house.

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'Former Pluto Buildings' . 2010 . Dungeness © Peter Marlow Foundation
Pluto Conundrum 1
'A "conus" abandoned on a beach in Britain' © D-Day Overload
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'Former Pluto Buildings' . 2010 . Dungeness © Peter Marlow Foundation
Pluto Conundrum 05
'Flow of the pipeline at sea' © D-Day Overload
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'Former Pluto Buildings' . 2010 . Dungeness © Peter Marlow Foundation