Research: Bouyant Architecture

The following article was scouted from the Open Architecture Network.

It contains a proposal for a house that rises and subsides with flood flow for the Louisiana flood plain. Click the link above for the orignal article (it has design boards!)

 

Location

New Orleans, Louisiana

United States

 The House of the Rising Flood has been designed to rise and fall with the potential floodwaters that are prone to the New Orleans, Louisiana area. This house is also hurricane resistant and ADA accessible with use of HRG-2 Virogon glass windows to withstand hurricane winds and pillars to horizontally stabilize the house when it is floating. When the house is not floating, there are ADA accessible ramps connecting the street to the front porch and the back porch to the yard. The house is not only aesthetically pleasing but has been designed to fit in with the existing culture of the Broadmoor district.
The estimated cost of this building is over budget but in the long run, the initial costs are less than the maintenance costs of having to rebuild or remodel a house after a flood. With this in mind, we feel the estimated cost of $170,000 is reasonable and realistic in relation to the overall cost of a home in New Orleans. To help keep the costs of a “floating” house in check, we plan to use local and recycled materials for most of the construction. The floors, walls, and ceiling of the house are built with structural insulated panels to make onsite fabrication of the home faster, less wasteful, and more energy efficient. In regards to LEED certification, we strategically chose materials, appliances, and construction techniques to optimize energy efficiency throughout the design and building process.