Building Resilience through Flood Risk Reduction: The Benefits of Amphibious Foundation Retrofits to Heritage Structures

Abstract

Today, many older coastal, riverine, and deltaic communities are faced with increasing flood risk, often combined with a rise in sea levels or land erosion. Until now, the options available to owners of heritage properties have been limited. Buoyant foundation retrofits offer under-resourced communities a viable and affordable adaptation alternative to buy-outs, tear-downs, and “displacement by climate change”. Amphibious strategies will not solve all challenges related to the increased impacts of climate change on heritage architecture, but offer a resilient option for communities to protect their physical history and cultural identity. This paper will provide an overview of amphibious retrofit construction and its application to the preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods. It will provide several case study examples, namely, retrofits of heritage buildings in the historically significant African-American community of Princeville, North Carolina; for a low-income neighborhood of freedman’s cottages in Charleston, South Carolina; and a creative approach for amphibiating architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois. It will connect to larger themes of developing innovative and practical methods for providing flood protection to heritage structures, using an approach that emphasizes sensitivity and adaptability to the cultural values of existing communities.

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