Envisioning Sea Level Rise Adaptation in Waikiki, Hawaiʻi

The full research project, including presentations and reports, is on the Sea Grant website.

April 1, 2022 – Low-Rise & High-Rise Residential Buildings

Waikīkī is the economic hub of Hawai‘i’s tourism industry and is threatened by flooding from sea level rise, king tides, high wave events, rainfall and storm drain backflow, groundwater inundation, and overflow of the Ala Wai canal. This research merges science with design to create conceptual architectural design renderings to visualize sea level rise adaptation strategies over time for buildings, utilities, transportation, and open space. The interdisciplinary design research team from the University of Hawai‘i (UH) School of Architecture (SOA)’s Environmental Research and Design Laboratory (ERDL); the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST)’s Climate Resilience Collaborative (CRC); and Sea Grant College Program’s Center for Smart Building and Community Design (CSBCD) includes graduate research assistants, faculty, and staff from architecture, landscape architecture, environmental design, climate science, geology, and Sea Grant. The goal is for these renderings to compel discussion, contribute to design guides, pilot projects, and new policies that prepare for future flooding. This project demonstrates the potential for academia’s role in addressing climate change with notable project engagement of over 700 people in professional, business, governmental, and academic settings. Participant feedback published into online reports, highlight the need for district-scale planning and building-scale guidelines informed by future flooding predictions. This academic research project’s methods and products can inform future local policy development as a resource to future design teams and policy makers.

June 22, 2023 – Beachfront High-Rise Mixed-Use Commercial and Residential Building

The Beachfront Sea Level Rise Adaptation Project was completed by the interdisciplinary team from University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Architecture, Environmental Research and Design Laboratory; Hawai‘i Sea Grant, Center for Smart Building and Community Design; School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Climate Resilience Collaborative. This academic design research merges science with design to create conceptual architectural design renderings to visualize sea level rise adaptation strategies over time for buildings, utilities, transportation, and open space. The goal of these renderings are to foster discussion and contribute to design guides, pilot projects, and new policies that prepare for future flooding. The design proposals were shared through a public webinar presentation with over 220 participants and discussion with a panel of guest experts.

Awards:
Publications:
  • Lander, M. S. F., Meguro, W., Briones, J. I., Castillo, I. R., & Fletcher, C. H. 2024. “Envisioning In-Situ Sea Level Rise Adaptation for Coastal Cities”. Technology | Architecture + Design, 8(2), 298–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/24751448.2024.2405409.
  • Meguro, W. 2024. “Co-Innovating for Integrated Research, Teaching, and Outreach in Sea Level Rise Adaptation”. Technology | Architecture + Design, 8(1), 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/24751448.2024.2322918.
  • Meguro, W., C.H. Fletcher, J. Briones, E. Teeples, and G. Casey. 2024. “A Visionary Approach to Advancing Sea Level Rise Adaptation in an Urban Coastal Community, Waikīkī, Hawai‘i”. Oceanography 37(1):122–123, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2024.223.
  • Meguro, W., Briones, J., Failano, G., Fletcher, C.H. 2024. “A Science and Community-Driven Approach to Illustrating Urban Adaptation to Coastal Flooding to Inform Management Plans”. Sustainability, 16, 2849. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16072849.
  • 2023 Envisioning Adaptation to Sea Level Rise in Waikīkī, HI (conference poster), the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) 2023 International Conference: The Research-Design Interface proceedings, page 839.
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