Amphibious Safe House

I designed a Safe House that uses amphibious architecture to protect people during floods and hurricanes. Unlike traditional elevated buildings, this structure remains on the ground during normal conditions and rises with floodwaters during extreme weather events. The building is designed to provide emergency shelter while also storing food and water supplies to help communities survive and recover after a flood.

The goal of this project is not only to protect people during floods, but also to help communities recover and rebuild more safely after natural disasters.

Autodesk Fusion

Google Scholar

First, I wanted to identify which natural disaster is most prominent in America, since it is the country where I live. I found that flooding is one of the most common and destructive natural disasters that many Americans have to recover from. Flooding occurs frequently across the United States, especially along the East Coast and Gulf Coast, due to heavy rainstorms and hurricanes. This led me to the conclusion that I should design a flood-resistant building that could help people survive and recover from devastating flood events.

Using Google Scholar, I found two articles by Elizabeth English, an architecture professor who researches flood-resistant architecture. From these articles, I learned about amphibious architecture and its benefits compared to traditional elevated buildings.

Traditionally, architects in flood-prone areas often design houses on elevated poles or stilts so that the main living area remains above rising floodwaters. However, this design style has two major problems. First, because these buildings are permanently elevated, they can be more vulnerable to strong winds during hurricanes. Second, they are often difficult to access for people using wheelchairs unless elevators are installed.

Amphibious architecture helps solve both of these problems while also being more cost-effective in most situations.

Amphibious architecture means that the building remains on the ground during normal conditions, but during a flood it rises with the water using buoyant materials installed beneath the structure. This allows the building to remain accessible during normal use while also protecting it during floods.

I used Autodesk Fusion to design my Safe House building and its floating mechanism. I used many of the tools provided in Autodesk Fusion, including shell, fillet, pattern, and several other modification and creation tools. I also used Fusion to create renders and animations for the project.

First, I designed the building and its base structure. Then, I designed the amphibious floating mechanism based on the research articles and diagrams I studied explaining how amphibious buildings function.

The building is approximately 20 ft × 60 ft and can rise up to 15 ft above ground level during a flood. The two 20 ft × 10 ft side sections are intended to store emergency food and water supplies to help support recovery efforts after a flood. The building is designed to hold roughly 100 people during emergency situations.

The flotation system uses EPS (Expanded Polystyrene), a lightweight buoyant material commonly used in amphibious construction concepts. The structure also includes four vertical steel guide poles that help keep the building stable and prevent drifting during floods.

I believe this building would work best in a small town along the southern coast of Louisiana. Louisiana frequently experiences flooding and hurricanes because of its subtropical climate and proximity to the Gulf of Mexico.

Placing a flood-resistant Safe House in a small coastal town could help residents survive and recover from hurricanes and floods by providing shelter, emergency supplies, and a structure capable of rising with floodwaters instead of being damaged by them.