Later this year, work will be starting on the first ever amphibious house to be built in the UK. The 225 sqm house will be Buckinghamshire, set a mere 10m from the banks of the Thames. While there will be a fixed foundation for the house, it will be designed to float up in case of flooding in the area, and Baca Artchitects is the design firm behind the innovative idea.
How Does Amphibious House Work?
The main section of the house will be built from lightweight timber, which will be nestled into a concrete hull shaped base, which creates a sort of free floating pontoon. The whole house will be set inside four vertical guideposts which will hold it in location, the same sort of guideposts you see used in marinas. They are a part of the visual design and will be a feature that can be seen on the outside of the home.
Read on: My Home was Flooded - Should I Try and Clean Up Myself or Hire Professionals
As well as that, the garden of the home is designed to give early warning in the case of flooding. It’s a system of terraces the fall down from the house to the bank of the river. This levered design will also help water flow down from the house. Although this is the first house of its kind in the UK, company director Richard Coutts says that they have worked with experts to construct other amphibious houses in other countries.
Back in 2005, 32 floating and flood resistant homes in the Netherlands were built by the Dura Vermeer Group. These homes were built to support flooding of up to 5.5m, and given the chance to show their stuff during last year’s floods. Academics from the Canadian University of Waterloo’s 'Buoyant Foundation', who helped in the Netherlands, were also involved in the building of the UK house on the Thames.
Although amphibious houses are up to 25% more expensive to build than traditional elevated houses, the do offer some marked advantages. The most important is that they do stay engaged with the ground, allowing those living in the house easier access to their yard and garden. When you look at the typical elevated houses being built in New Orleans, you can see that they're very high, and that affects how those living in them interact with neighbors. Their front porch is now a balcony and not as accessible.
The team at Baca Architects is continuing work on a plan for 700 new homes in Norwich – all of which are to be flood resistant. The developments are coming about as part of a project for Defra, called the “Long-Term Initiative for Flood Risk Environments”. The idea is to allow water to interact with the construction in a pre-planned way. If the program continues to move forward, it will integrate more infrastructure designed to minimize flood damages, from the roads to landscaping (which can work to absorb excess water) - even energy planning such as use of hydroelectricity. By using amphibious design, we’re creating just one in a multitude of strategies that can allow people to survive and thrive amidst the challenge of global climate change.
Image credit: Barca Architects/Architects Journal (Hattie Hartman)
The main section of the house will be built from lightweight timber, which will be nestled into a concrete hull shaped base, which creates a sort of free floating pontoon. The whole house will be set inside four vertical guideposts which will hold it in location, the same sort of guideposts you see used in marinas. They are a part of the visual design and will be a feature that can be seen on the outside of the home.
Read on: My Home was Flooded - Should I Try and Clean Up Myself or Hire Professionals
As well as that, the garden of the home is designed to give early warning in the case of flooding. It’s a system of terraces the fall down from the house to the bank of the river. This levered design will also help water flow down from the house. Although this is the first house of its kind in the UK, company director Richard Coutts says that they have worked with experts to construct other amphibious houses in other countries.
Back in 2005, 32 floating and flood resistant homes in the Netherlands were built by the Dura Vermeer Group. These homes were built to support flooding of up to 5.5m, and given the chance to show their stuff during last year’s floods. Academics from the Canadian University of Waterloo’s 'Buoyant Foundation', who helped in the Netherlands, were also involved in the building of the UK house on the Thames.
Although amphibious houses are up to 25% more expensive to build than traditional elevated houses, the do offer some marked advantages. The most important is that they do stay engaged with the ground, allowing those living in the house easier access to their yard and garden. When you look at the typical elevated houses being built in New Orleans, you can see that they're very high, and that affects how those living in them interact with neighbors. Their front porch is now a balcony and not as accessible.
The team at Baca Architects is continuing work on a plan for 700 new homes in Norwich – all of which are to be flood resistant. The developments are coming about as part of a project for Defra, called the “Long-Term Initiative for Flood Risk Environments”. The idea is to allow water to interact with the construction in a pre-planned way. If the program continues to move forward, it will integrate more infrastructure designed to minimize flood damages, from the roads to landscaping (which can work to absorb excess water) - even energy planning such as use of hydroelectricity. By using amphibious design, we’re creating just one in a multitude of strategies that can allow people to survive and thrive amidst the challenge of global climate change.
Image credit: Barca Architects/Architects Journal (Hattie Hartman)
Sarah works as an online blogger for weekend breaks specialist Hotelshop. As a former architecture student she loves travelling around and enjoying the hotels of the world, as well as keeping up with goings-on in the architecture industry.
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