As Stuttio Workshop began developing ideas for our entry in The Chain of Eco-Homes Competition, the idea of permanence became one of the earliest topics of discussion for several reasons. Most specifically to Greensburg, a town that was completely destroyed by a tornado in 2007, permanence, as defined by the feeling of security and safety, would need to become a defining feature of the home. All of us at Stuttio Workshop agreed that it wouldn’t matter how energy efficient our home would be if it could be easily destroyed in a storm. With this in mind, our research involved looking at current storm shelter design specifications, earth-sheltered architecture, and wall systems that would prove durable during high wind conditions.
Typically, a storm shelter consists of a solid (often concrete) box buried completely underground. Stuttio Workshop decided to explore the possibilities of using aspects of storm shelter design as defining features of our home, but then reinterpreting this typology to provide for a more pleasant living environment that combined the feeling of security with desirable natural lighting and ventilation. Additionally, we asked ourselves, “If every house in Greensburg has a basement or a storm shelter, what happens with the soil that is excavated during the construction of these buildings?” We decided that hauling the spoils from excavation away from our site would be wasting not only the fuel required for the hauling trucks, but would be wasting a tremendous design opportunity as well. Ultimately, the decision was to use the excavation material to create earth berms that would insulate the house in both summer and winter, offer additional security during storms, and also create an opportunity for a more dynamic building section and landscaping strategy on an otherwise completely flat site.
Security From the Storm
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