In the overpopulated deltas of the Philippines people live in are-as that see floods regularly. The floods are being caused by a com-bination of tides, heavy rainfall and land subsidence. The demand for safe and affordable housing is immense, yet available dry land is scarce. By implementing floating homes in vacant former rice fields, demanded new building space is becoming available. To come to a sustainable design that fits in the Pampanga Delta, traditional building designs as the Bahay Kubo have been analysed. Many aspects of this design correspond with modern sustainable development goals. By means of parametric building simulations, key aspects of the Bahay Kubo have been used to provide the home with good performances in indoor climate and structural behavior. Now the first pilot building has been built, the home is being tested for validating the parametric models and to evaluate the building design. The first round of test results has led to proper insights in indoor climate, user friendliness, and affordability. Initial design improvements have been made and will be used in upcoming developments such as the construction of a floating neighborhood and the construction of floating classrooms.

@en

Urbanisation in Southeast Asia has to cope with land subsidence, rain floods, clogged rivers, storm surges and typhoons. On particular locations, like in the deserted fish ponds in the Manila Bay Area in the Philippines, floating housing can be an attractive building style. PhD researcher Pieter Ham and Finch Floating Homes are inspired by centuries-old building technologies to design 21st century housing.@en