This page is a part of a MSc thesis and is not meant to be used as an official advice.
When building in low laying areas is inevitable and the budget is a constraint, consider building the main solid structure using reinforced concrete columns and brick walls on the sides and break-away bamboo walls in the middle. A house like this is a lot more affordable than alternatives such as house on stilts or a house protected by an angled wall. You can read more about designing safe buildings.
Orient the break-away walls so that the tsunami wave could easily break them. Water will get in and out of the house easily, leaving the main structure intact. Watch the video below to see how it works.
As you can see above, staying in a house like this during a tsunami is most likely unsafe. Therefore residents should evacuate to higher ground or dedicated tsunami evacuation centres.
A tsunami is a very destructive event effects of witch can last for years. This house design, however, allows to reconstruct the house after a tsunami quickly and at a low cost, using locally available bamboo. This means that residents can return to their homes sooner.
It can make a cosy home or an attractive rental property for tourists with an authentic feel inspired by the traditional local architecture of Ternate e.g. Fala Boga (Rumah Bambu).
