Hydra House

Completion Date: January 2003

Client: Wallpaper Magazine Invited Proposal

Location: oceans

Commissioned by Wallpaper magazine to design a flood-proof environment to combat global warming, the Hydra House is the answer to rising water levels in the world’s oceans.  The free-form, floating structure draws inspiration both from nature and human networking.  Deciding that mass production is the best way forward, OMD has melded influences from waterborne creatures (most notably the freshwater polyphydra) and transformed them into cutting-edge housing prototype.  The lozenge-like structure, formed of inflated neoprene arranged around a system of structural tubes, floats upright in the water.  Inside, living platforms are suspended off this structural core, allowing for variations in height and configuration.  A helical staircase wraps itself around the structure, providing access to all levels.

The house can be attached to other Hydras via an underwater system of connecting ‘tentacles’, allowing a group to join together to form a colony.  However, OMD has designed the Hydra to be self-sufficient, drawing its energy needs from the sea and the sun, and designed an internal recycling loop (located in the tubular structure) to provide water, power and nutrients for the attached floating gardens.  Information gathering is crucial, and as well as solar-tracking thermo-photovoltaic cells, wireless connections keep the Hydra House in constant communication with its neighbors, allowing the houses to roam free and return to their networks.