Harmonic Horizon Home

When me and my partner first saw this competition we saw this as a good challenge to see what we could do with a difficult environment. We struggled for many hours going back and forth about which habitat we would like to design our structure for but ultimately decided on the deep ocean. The common issue was to figure out the source of energy, water, and food. We decided to go with water because it seemed like the most realistic place that we could move to because it solves two of our three basic needs 

The design is based on the dorming/apartment lifestyle where everyone has their own space but there are many communal aspects in the middle. Our design floats half submerged in the water because we didn’t want to tie the structure down or build supports to hold it up. 

Supplies

Revit 2024

Tinker CAD

Enscape

Inventor

Step 1: Brainstorming

The first step was to find out more information about the ocean and how probable our solution really is. About 30 % of the Earth’s surface is land, and only half of that is habitable leaving the rest for desert and mountains. What's the other 70%? Water. The global sea level is rising at an accelerated rate. As of this year it is predicted to rise 0.14 inches and in the next 30 years 10-12 inches. With that, cities such as Miami, New York, and San Francisco are predicted to be submerged and flooded, making the land unlivable. Our solution, move onto the water. 

Step 2: Energy

For our design we plan to use hydroelectric power to provide energy for our structure. There will be pipes from the bottom of each of the spheres on the outside that connect to the middle sphere. The water will rush in through the pipes spinning a turbine that is connected to a generator which will lead to a converter which will turn the energy into electricity. We calculated an estimate for the size of the pipes by first finding out how much electricity we would need. An average household would use about 30,000 for one day. We wanted to double that because we are supplying more people and considering that you can’t leave there is a greater usage of energy. For my calculations I had to take the efficiency of the turbine, density, acceleration of gravity, usable fall height, and the flow fate. Multiple all those numbers together to get the amount of power produced by the system. I wanted to work backwards by finding the amount of power first because then we could play around with the cross sectional area of the tubes. We wanted to have smaller tubes rather than one large one but after doing the math it appears that we don’t even need to have 5 pipes because just having two of them that are both 3 ft in diameter produces more than enough power for the entire structure. 

Step 3: Drinkable Water

For water we plan on having a water filtration system that will turn the sea water into drinkable water. 

Reverse Osmosis:

- Pre Filter (Sediment Filter): Strain out sediment, silt, and dirt and protects drift from getting to the fragile RO membranes

-Carbon Filter: The carbon filter removes chlorine and other contaminants as well as improve the taste and odor of the water

-Reverse Osmosis Membrane: 

The semi permeable membrane RO membrane filters out almost all additional contaminants

- Polishing Filter (Carbon Filter): The last filter will “polish” off any remaining nasty odor or taste, creating high quality water. 

Step 4: Materials

For the glass that encases the dome, we plan to use Acrylic Plastic Glass as it is used for underwater structures like aquariums and submarines. Acrylic Plastic is one of the strongest types of glass in the world right now. It is seventeen times more impact resistant than tempered glass, another piece of glass that is one of the strongest in the world. Studies have shown that Acrylic plastic can withstand more compressive stress than tensile which makes it suitable for underwater application. Acrylic plastic also has excellent weatherability qualities which is perfect for the oceans harsh weather conditions. It has been used at submarines before which go up to 4000 meters deep. However, the application for the dome and glass our structure will be utilizing won’t be nearly as deep and therefore not under as much pressure. The glass will be utilized no further than 50 meters deep. The tensile strength of Acrylic Plastic can handle around 8000 PSI and the PSI of ocean water at 50 meters deep can be 22-37 PSI, which is a significantly less value than our threshold. Additionally, Acrylic glass is more cost effective as it is only half the cost of regular glass and costs less to create custom acrylic plastic glass. Since this glass is a thermoplastic, it can be heated up without losing its properties which means it will cost less when bending to create the shape of the dome. 

Step 5: Buoyancy

For our structure to be what we actually want, it needs to be able to float on the water. There are already real world examples of floating structures which use a simple method of using concrete and Styrofoam as the base and building the building on top. The concrete is used to match the weight of the building so that it will float. Every force has an equal and opposite force. For something to float the weight force has to equal the buoyancy force. The buoyancy force is determined by density of water, times the volume, times the acceleration of gravity. A studio apartment on average is 1,800 lbs which is the number I’m using as an estimate. Since our structure is a sphere we are doing to impediment that same idea into a section on the sphere. Adding a buoyancy structure at the bottom third or so on the sphere will help it float but not be completely above the surface of the water. Many constructions have already started to combat floating using this technique to help houses rise above the water. This is called amphibious construction.

After trying to figure out if our model is realistic we realized that it wasn’t. With the size of our spheres and how much weight would be in them, the density would be way too high to the point where we wouldn’t be able to make it float. We decided to tweak our design and add a rectangle that encompasses each structure that is just Styrofoam to help the model float. Although this would ultimately make the design less visually appealing, we would still want half the structure to be submerged so you wouldn't have to see the base. The base would also have cut outs that fit the spheres perfectly.  

Step 6: Initial Sketches

We started off with quickly putting our ideas for the design on paper. The main thing was how to maximize the space because the sphere isn't the shape for a typical room so some of the space couldn't be used since it wasn't that wide but it is high so we wanted to incorporate a second floor that could potential be where people slept. There would be a floor at 2 feet above the bottom of the sphere with Styrofoam in that space to help keep the sphere stay half afloat.

Step 7: Revit Modeling

After many trials we decided that this design is the cleanest and most similar to what we envisioned for the home. We wanted to make the sphere on the left more of like everyone's personal space while the bigger sphere which is the one on the left is more for communal spaces. We have big holes cut out of the center sphere for air since we wanted to incorporate plants into our design we will create a floor at the top and add greenery to it.

We also wanted to show all of our past design which we put in a slideshow

Step 8: Enscape Rendering

We moved to model on water to better to see what it would look like in real life if we were to make this. We think that the rendering makes the model come to life because in the beginning everything we were struggling to pick a design because we really wanted something not too blocky so that you can really see through the entire structure. This rendering includes the greenery at the top that will help add color to our model and bring a little part of the land with us to the sea.

Step 9: TinkerCAD Modeling

After we decided to change our model in step 5 because we thought it might be easier to add the base on Tinker CAD. The image on the left represents the initial design while the one on the right represents the edited one with the water as well.

Step 10: Real Life Model

We wanted to make a real-life model of our idea which we used ornaments for. We glued together ornaments of different sizes along with boba straws to act as the hallways connecting them. We were excited to see that it floated in the water without any assistance which really brought this project to life.

Step 11: Creator's Reflection

This project enlightened us on how the environment is gradually changing and how we should be focused on more sustainable ways of living. After extensive research, we realized how significant these solutions are and how we could use them shortly. In school, we were introduced to CAD software like AutoCAD and Revit but this project forced us to go beyond our comfort zone and learn more about the program to carry out the complicated designs we had in mind. It was a very insightful learning experience as we mastered new commands in Revit, Inventor, and TinkerCAD. While working and brainstorming on different models, we learned how flexible you must be when designing and thinking about how you want to execute your plan. The Design Process is always changing and if you are set on one design and constantly trying to adjust to that one design it wouldn’t be the most effective way to model. For example, our original sketch wasn’t functional or realistic after we thought about what we should implement inside and how we would need to modify the sizing and flooring to keep the structure afloat and create enough room for the wires and pipes for energy and water. The project also involved a lot of trial and error as we went through three different designs on two different software before we were content on which would match our sketches the best.