Climate Resilience Hub · 2025

Waterfly

Dusk render of a timber hall under a long sloping roof, lit from inside, with people sitting on the floor and tall prairie grass in the foreground

A climate resilience hub on the Illinois prairie whose butterfly roof is the primary water-collection device, organizing section, circulation and communal space.

Location: Illinois
Status: Studio
With: Clare Smith

An AIA COTE 10 submission by Isaac Tu and Clare Smith. Earl Prize nominated.

Rooted in the openness of the Illinois prairie, Waterfly's form responds to dominant wind patterns, and intense seasonal sun, soil composition, and rain. The architecture stretches horizontally, using elevation and section to establish environmental control while maintaining visual continuity with the surrounding agricultural fields.

The butterfly roof is not symbolic; it is the primary water-collection device that organizes section, circulation, and communal space. The roof transforms precipitation into a spatial driver, reinforcing the courtyard as both a climatic moderator and a shared civic core.

Site and water

Site plan of the hub beside a research institute, a food plant lab and warehouses, with prairie restoration zones, water retention areas, farm fields and a winding path — Site plan: research zone, agriculture zone, rainwater cisterns and the elevated path

The site plan and the water diagram size the catchment: the butterfly roof is 11,779 sq ft, the elevated path 4,846 and 5,458 sq ft, and the parking roof 7,945 sq ft, with three rainwater cisterns.

Diagram over a photograph of a prairie fence line with dotted rainfall in the sky, a drainage ditch and grates in the foreground, and a small contour diagram showing the water path from high point to low point — How rain moves across the site: direct rainfall, drainage ditch and grates, permeable surface, and an 8 ft fall from high point to low point

Materials and interior

Material selection responds to program, climate, and environmental performance. Concrete anchors the research wing with thermal mass and durability, while a timber structural system defines primary spaces with low embodied carbon and visual warmth. Recycled corten steel introduces contrast and weathering at the exterior, bamboo supports lightweight non-structural elements such as the elevated path, and steel is reserved for the roof to ensure durability and rainwater capture.

Interior render of a hall with a timber ceiling, a glazed greenhouse full of plants on the left, tall rust-colored corten fins, a timber stair at the back and dappled light on a polished floor — Research wing interior: greenhouse, corten fins and stair

Shading and the multipurpose space

Layered shading devices are calibrated to the Midwestern sun path to regulate seasonal solar exposure, balancing daylight, thermal comfort, and evaporative control. Rather than acting as applied screens, the shading devices shape both environmental performance and spatial experience, responding to intense seasonal sun across the Midwestern prairie.

Section through a greenhouse beside a community space showing summer and winter sun angles, a wooden shade, a ventilation arrow, solar heat gain arrows and insulated thermal mass — Bioclimatic section: summer shade, winter sun, natural ventilation and insulated thermal mass

At ground level, a flexible civic space transforms between a shaded conversation pit, stepped lecture seating, and an open market ground. This adaptability supports informal gathering, public education, and seasonal farmers markets, allowing the space to respond to both daily use and larger community events.

Scroll to fold the collapsible lecture seating away, and then to raise the conversation pit out of the floor.

Collapsible Stairs · Open · 1 of 6

Six section drawings in two columns showing the same building as its sliding panels are pushed aside, a person sits at a conversation pit, low benches appear, and a timber screen folds open — The multipurpose space in six stages, from sliding panels to the timber screen opening

The elevated path

An elevated circulation path weaves through the project, operating simultaneously as water conduit, public promenade, and observational platform. Its structure integrates ecological river flow, community connection, and accessibility, allowing visitors to trace water from roof collection through the pathway and into on-site cisterns that support resilient agricultural systems.

Scroll to pull the path's structure apart.

Assembled

Site and water

Materials and interior

Shading and the multipurpose space

Collapsible Stairs

Conversation Pit

The elevated path