Stage One Regrowth Pod
The regrowth pod is decanted onto the site.
Entry #11
Tanker 721
A machine for surviving in
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Stage Two Hallways
Tanker pieces arrive – the central hallway is extended as needed.
In the wake of the devastating fires that ripped through the communities of Kinglake and Marysville the issue of survivability came to the fore. Much of the dialogue centred on the nature of the building fabric – on material properties. Inevitably, the planning guidelines seized upon intuitive understandings – that timber, as a flammable material, was to be abhorred, and masonry and concrete construction to be lauded. Yet reality is often counter-intuitive – some of the buildings that survived were timber, and many that were destroyed were of masonry construction. The deciding factor in the persistence of some structures seems to have been the presence of an aware, prepared resident with sufficient water-pressure to fight back spot fires after the main fire-front had passed by.
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embody material costs that are far out of the reach of most local families. The solution, rather, is to focus on simple systems – to accept the dangers of the locale, but to remember that people did survive; primarily those with fire plans, and fire-fighting systems to match the plans. Concurrently, there is a responsibility to rebuild as quickly as possible – to re-house displaced persons on site. Tanked is a rapidly deployable adjunct to the regrowth cube. It is ready for immediate inhabitation but is intended to be augmented with more permanent structures. The fire-suppression system is gravity fed, reducing reliance on fickle two-stroke fire-pumps at the crucial juncture. Water is routinely pumped to the higher tanks, to be release by a simple twist of a spigot in the event of a fire (Fig 1). Sprinklers around the rim of the roof spray water out and down, shielding the bulk of the house from ember attack and moderate flames. Eaves and under-crofts are banished; reducing the chance of stray emberlit spot-fires. The tanks become the dominant element of the public façade – a reminded of the importance of water in both long term, and immediate survival. Besides the pumping and storage infrastructure, the Tanker is light-weight – its intention is to provide a mechanism to defend, rather than a bulwark in which to retreat.
Sadly, in many cases, the sheer ferocity of the fires was too much for even the best prepared resident – this was an unfathomably violent conflagration; a literal firestorm. In such situations, material concerns are rendered irrelevant; seeing Marysville before contractors had begun the thankless task of cleaning the debris, I was struck by the fundamental force of the fire; houses, of all makes, literally torn apart by the flames and the wind; twisted corrugated iron scattered in diminishing trails, courses of brick crumbling in the ashes. Nothing short of a military bunker could have survived the heart of the fire, yet not a hundred metres away a little wooden cottage with grass growing up to the footings stood still, inviolate. There are also unacknowledged problems that are outside the scope Fire, as well as being voracious, is seemingly capricious. of the project. There is the ever-present question of the nature and orientation of the communities to be rebuilt, a question of new So it seems that it is an impossibility to build an entirely ‘bush-fire responsibilities and definitions of the Australian rural township. proof ’ structure – short of a multiply re-enforced concrete bunker Perhaps this focus on individual houses is pernicious. with redundant oxygen supplies and cryonic cooling; a proposition Nevertheless, Tanker – and its occupants – will continue to stand; that may excite survivalists or mad-scientists but is hardly a sane ready for the fight. solution to the issue at hand. Moreover, such concerted projects
1 - Gravity fed fire tank 2 - Sprinkler 3 - Gravity feed spigot 4 - Accessway
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5 - Pump room 6 - Kitchen/Dining 7 - Bedrooms 8 - Study 9 - Main water tank
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Fire Defence System Diagram i ii iii iv v vi
- Main Water Tank - Fire Pump - Fire Tank Pump - Rainwater Harvesting - Gravity Tanks - Sprinklers
NB: Controls for gravity feed tanks are located within the Tanker hallway modules. Fire pump is located in the pump-house – in the event of a pump failure the tanks will still be able to provide pressure + water to the sprinkler system. This is contingent on periodic refills of the higher tanks.
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Stage Three
Cenotes, Camping and Consolidating While finances and lives are rebuilt, the family is able to stay in the expanded space afforded by the Tanker hallway modules.
Stage Four Completion
As the house is completed, the tent-like appendages are removed for re-use. The concrete core of the Tanker hallway remains and the gravity tanks are installed.
Section + Plan 1:100 @ A0