Solar-powered Floating Tidal House defies climate change with retractable legs

The home of the future needs to be able to handle the turbulence that climate change delivers at its door. Terry & Terry Architecture designed the floating Tidal House to embrace environmental challenges, such as rising sea levels.

Based on the technology used in mobile offshore drilling and exploratory platforms, the floating home can be easily relocated when necessary and it combines with others to form entire communities along global coastlines. The design was conceived as part of the 15th International Architecture Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia, the Collateral Event “Time Space Existence” at Palazzo Mora in Italy.

The concept house can flow with the tides and respond to environmental changes. Its legs can be deployed and retracted from the bottom of the San Francisco Bay using a rack and pinion gear system. Independently operable legs allow the structure to stay balanced and positioned closer to the surface of the water. Thanks to its aerodynamic spherical roof, the Tidal House can withstand strong winds and generate clean energy through integrated photovoltaic systems.

Tidal House can be used as a prototypical floating structure for entire communities connected via a floating dock. The unique environmental conditions of each house, dependent on position around the dock, are addressed through the system of retractable legs and structural design. The solution can also accommodate different lifestyles and programs.