Flood Proof Architecture

Flood proof architecture

By: Brad Hoepfner

  

To quickly give some background information, the thesis I am currently working on is creating a “float home” in Southern Illinois. This region is plagued by homes and towns built within floodplains that have been severely damaged or could be damaged over time. While moving these cities and communities out of the floodplains seems possible, it is difficult for people to leave their past and their history behind them. Creating a dwelling that could survive the test of time and the unpredictable floodplains of the area could be a solution.

Factors of soil compaction, subsidence, urbanization and climate change actually increase the threat of floods to urban areas. With this in mind, being able to build with water could be one of the solutions for a sustainable future in highly populated areas in the near future. Some typologies of building construction examples are starting to arise for example: floating construction, amphibious construction, dry or wet proof construction.

Amphibious and floating homes are a great type of building construction to consider for my thesis work. They are built on solid ground but they are being designed to float, so they are not similar to houseboats. The constructions for these homes are typically light-weight wood and a concrete base that is hollowed out, giving the home a quality of buoyancy. The foundation is not actually anchored to the ground, so the structure rests on the ground and is tied to 15 foot mooring posts with sliding rings. These rings allow the structure to float up or down depending on the rising or falling water tables. Electrical cables, water and even sewage float throw flexible pipes inside of the mooring poles.

With these types of homes in mind, the thesis can grow and learn from past examples and create a building that could work extremely well for this region in Southern Illinois. Parts of this information came from http://www.coastalcooperation.net/part-III/III-3-3-3.pdf.