In 1820, a landslide on Washington's Camano Island sent a 4m (13ft) wave into nearby Hat Island, destroying homes and drowning many of the local people.

Now one designer has created a concept house that allows water to flow through it, in an attempt to protect existing residents from the same fate.

The 3,140 square-foot house is located on the northern end of the island and is the work of architect Dan Nelson of Designs Northwest Architects.

Dubbed the 'Tsunami House', it stands at around 9m (30 ft) tall and can withstand the impact of waves with heights of up 2.4m (8ft) as well as a 7.8 scale earthquake and 85 mph lateral winds.

This is because the home's two main floors are situated 2.7m (9ft) above ground. They are supported by a steel frame and strategically placed pillars, according to a report by Tuan Nguyen in Smithsonian Magazine. 

The gaps between the columns are filled in with clear glass doors that slide shut and are designed to break with ease under the force of flooding.

This would allow the water to flow through the bottom chamber and out the opposite side dispersing the force and reducing pressure on the columns.

The ground floor, known as the 'flood room', feels like an ordinary room rather than a redundant space.

It's decorated like any other living space, expect every item within it is certified waterproof so they won't be ruined by floodwater.

'If the building was a solid wall instead of columns filled in with glass doors, the whole thing could collapse under the momentum of the wave,' Mr Nelson told Smithsonian Magazine.

'We opted to enable the building to stay intact by letting the water move through along a path of least resistance.'

Western Washington lies over the 680-mile Cascadia subduction zone, which is one of the largest active faults in North America.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2544787/The-house-built-withstand-NATURAL-DISASTERS-Innovative-home-survive-tsunamis-earthquakes-85-mph-gales.html#ixzz2rIFVsncu

Interesting, where I grew up in the Sacramento valley, the older homes, and I mean everyone of them are built this way.
All the old Victorians had a ground floor, except when it was built, it was considered an above ground basement floor, where you stored crap you didn't worry about getting wet.

The Sac valley used to flood every year from the Sac and American rivers, the entire inland valley more than 100 miles long and 70 miles wide, was an inland ocean at times, so all permanent dwellings were built this way, until they finally dammed the rivers, used the power of water to generate free electricity.

What a concept, yet libs won't let us build anymore dams.

Quote from: Solar on January 24, 2014, 06:14:47 AM
What a concept, yet libs won't let us build anymore dams.

I've always wondered where they Leftards think the electricity for all those electric cars is supposed to come from.