FLOAT House
The FLOAT House was constructed by the nonprofit Make it Right in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It was designed by Morphosis Architects and graduate students from UCLA. The goal of this project was to create an affordable, sustainable, and flood resilient house that could be used in the rebuilding of Louisiana’s Ninth Ward. This community was severely affected by Hurricane Katrina, and residents are still rebuilding many years later.
The FLOAT house was loosely based on the shotgun house typology, with the primary living spaces arranged end to end and accessed via an exterior corridor along one side. Its bold color palette was a reference to the ward’s colorful vernacular houses. Like most shotgun houses, it sits on a raised base, but in this project that raised base fits floatation elements made of polystyrene foam, which can lift the house in case of a flood. This would allow occupants to return to their homes after future hurricanes, and protect their houses from the impacts of flooding. By keeping the height of the house similar to the traditional shotgun house, the FLOAT house does not destroy the porch front culture of the community or pose accessibility problems for elderly or disabled residents.
Unlike most amphibious projects, the steel guidance posts for the FLOAT house are within the building. The roof, walls, windows, interior finish and base chassis are all prefabricated, a move which aimed to take advantage of mass-production to reduce costs. Other innovative design features include the butterfly roof to collect rainwater, rooftop solar panels, and a geothermal heating and cooling system.
It does not appear that the FLOAT house has been tested or experienced any flooding since it was constructed, and so how it would perform in flood conditions is not clear. However, the Make it Right Foundation as a whole has since faced controversy for delivering nonfunctional housing, and a recent assessment estimated that only 6 of the foundation's 109 houses remain in ‘reasonably good shape’.
