Aerodynamic, Retractable Tornado-Proof Homes that Look Like Something Right Out of 'The Jetsons'

Reaganite Republican ^ | 25 July 2013 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

What if your home could protect itself from dangerous weather 

by retreating underground automatically long before it hits?

If you think about it, a house -or entire neighborhood/town- that could withstand higher winds than boxy, frail wood structures -and actually hide underground if necessary- could have one heck of a lot of applications: not just in tornado alley, but avoiding fires in California, tsunamis in Japan, or of course hurricane season in the Carolinas.

Why build an expensive underground shelter only to watch your house and belongings be scraped from the face of the Earth, washed-away,
or turned to ashes?

A Hong-Kong firm called '10 Design' seems to see a market there, and with the aid of hydraulics, sophisticated sensors, solar power, and a wind-tunnel designed shell, the entire tornado-proof home could retract quickly into it's own special basement when necessary.

Says Ted Stevens -a design partner at the firm: 'There's nothing accidental about these storms -they're going to come- and the buildings should be responsive'.

But the tornado-proof home not just a project of whimsy: The movement of the house could depend upon kinetic mechanisms commonly found in garage doors, portable campers and sail boat hulls. In concert with other high-tech bits, hydraulic levers are activated by high-velocity winds that pull the house safely underground. 

When the home is below ground level, the pre-cast concrete roof rolls overhead to make it water, wind and even fire-proof. Once danger has passed, the house simply unfolds and residents can go on living... with landscaping their most pressing concern. 

The design team for the projects sees a future where entire neighborhoods of these homes constructed in tornado-prone areas. Each house's sensory data would link to the rest of the neighborhood, offering a network of early warnings for oncoming storms.

A preliminary cost study found the homes would run about $300,000 per single unit... not too crazy, depending on where you live- and the value you place on your life/possessions. Naturally, they expect the price to drop significantly after the team simplifies the design and production is ramped-up. The design team expects to be selling them in as little as two years from now- even though they look like something out of 2050.

To me, the detection and automation alone would be preferable to standard shelters simply due to the early warning mechanism: even if you have a place to go now, you have to be VERY aware -them twisters bear down quickly- and get your butt down there.... even then you might lose almost everything you've got, including other family members.

What a neat design... shouldn't we be working on this in OUR country?

Pics/video at Reaganite Republican...

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10 Design   Weather.com

[Reaganite Republican]

*** PING ***

[GeronL]

Monolithic domes are not from the Jetsons

[Reaganite Republican]

You know what, the design firm says this project started as a trailer park for the 21st Century, I’m serious...

But it morphed into this storm resistant thing here somehow

[RegulatorCountry]

It looks like some sort of vehicle or machine. Not much interior space, no outdoor living space. Accomodation for vehicles, pets? None that I see.

Park an RV on a modified gas station rack, lower it into a concrete walled pit with a retractable lid when the wind gets up or barometric pressure falls to a certain point. It’s be a lot cheaper with more utility, since you could go places in an RV.

More home-like than that thing, too.

[BwanaNdege]

It is possible to have A TORNADO-SAFE and AFFORDABLE SCHOOL.

This is a much more affordable, currently available solution to the need for tornado, hurricane & earthquake resistant structures.

We are working with local builders in Belize to make smaller versions like these rental units in Texas available & affordable as hurricane proof village homes .

[Sherman Logan]

In a hurricane you better have really good pumps in that hole you retreat into.

[GeronL]

a bit too small

[tanknetter]

There are two residences on Sullivan's Island SC (just outside of Charleston) that are built into the old casemates for "Battery 520" - artillery emplacements for 12" coastal defense guns.

My guess is that these are pretty much "safe" from anything Nature can throw at them, except a massive storm surge.

Link

[RegulatorCountry]

Can’t say they’re very attractive and I’d imagine it’s dark and damp in there. Better be running an industrial-strength dehumidifier. Probably cheap to keep cool, though.

[fruser1]

Reminds me of that Bugs Bunny cartoon where they had the house of the future. Instead of using steps, there was a button to make the upstairs drop to the downstairs. Unfortunately, all the objects downstairs were crushed in the process.

[pas]

I don’t see the hobbits.

[R. Scott]

Looks like the size of many RVs.

[jurroppi1]

Gee, what happens when you go to pop your house back above ground and there’s a tanker truck on top of where your home folded into, or the neighbor’s house, or one to several trees, or any other myriad of items tossed about in a tornado?

[Buckeye McFrog]

yes, but are they Sharknado proof?

[nothingnew]

I don’t see the hobbits.

...or round doors...

FMCDH(BITS)

[Marie]

I don’t know why people in tornado-prone areas don’t simply live in underground homes. There are so many cool options now. You could get much more ‘house’ without all the hydraulics and other mechanical BS.

Heck, without the house on top, people could have more yard on less acreage.

[BwanaNdege]

You can make them a bit larger.

Or even thatch them, if you'd like!

Or go traditional.