84 CLIMATE CHANGE
Park, provide much-needed new public spaces. Architect Brian Penschow, past president of the American Institute of Architect’s New Jersey chapter, has seen the improvements taking shape: ‘Te best projects are taking care of people, like Battery Park in New York. With climate change, we have a problem not just with buildings but with society itself, as it’s the poorest, the displaced and the most vulnerable who suffer most in extreme conditions.’
Winds of change Alongside surface water flooding, the peril of high winds is also increasing. HOK’s 12-storey Luminary Hotel in Fort Myers opened in September 2020 and was designed for extreme hurricane conditions. It’s set on an elevated plinth, with a simple design without alcoves or recesses to avoid wind forces creating
additional stress, along with a slight bend in its massing for strength and stability. Just two years later, Hurricane Ian put it to the test with winds that caused $112bn of damage and killed 150 people, but left the hotel unscathed and able to become a centre for rescue efforts. On a more domestic scale, in 2018, Florida
was battered by Hurricane Michael, which destroyed every single beachfront home except the Sand Palace, designed by a local doctor with 40ft pilings and 30cm-thick reinforced concrete walls, far exceeding what building codes demanded. ‘We can build to withstand a tornado,’ says Penschow, ‘but hardly anybody does it in the US because it would be five or six times the cost in construction, and while homeowners want things to be more robust, developers want low regulations. Codes are a political process and they settle for what is really the bare minimum.’
Allan Gibson is marketing segment
manager at Kuraray Europe, which developed the Trosifol SentryGlas hurricane- proof glass used in the Sand Palace, as well as projects as diverse as the River Kendal flood protection scheme and the Porsche Design Tower in Miami. ‘While current codes provide a strong foundation, they can often lag behind the realities of the changing climate,’ he warns. ‘For instance, extreme temperatures, wind loads and projectile impacts are becoming more frequent, yet building codes in some areas remain reactive rather than proactive. Tere is a pressing need for more frequent updates and a harmonisation in standards globally to ensure they reflect evolving climate risks.’ Yet not all areas are equally affected by
climate change. Mitchell notes: ‘In the US, the response to climate change in Los
PROJECT FISH TAIL PARK
Fish Tail park in Nanching is a new 126-acre park on the flood plain of the Yangtze River. Flooding and urban inundation during the monsoon season has been a chronic challenge for Nanching, worsening with climate change and rapid development. The park includes a lake able to accommodate a 2.0m water-level rise and store a million cubic metres of storm water. Much of the park, from the central forest with marshland trees to the boardwalk and street furniture is designed to be safely submerged during 20-year flood events and annual monsoon floods.
Architect Turenscape
Client Nanchang Gaoxin Real Estate Investment Co
PHOTOS: TURENSCAPE/V2COM
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