If Roger Connah had his way, the president of the United States would be living and working underground.

A visiting professor at Carleton University’s Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, Connah and his architectural partner, John Maruszczak, have taken first place in a White House Redux competition that invited people to design a new home for the president. The pair will accept the award in New York tomorrow.

Connah and Maruszczak submitted a script, entitled The Revenge of the Lawn, which consists of text, animation, new media and film that outlines a surveillance-heavy “nomadic structure” in which the entrances and exits change all the time and the building extends many levels underground.

“The lawn is on the top and uses technology that can open and close certain parts of it,” said Connah. “We can lift parts of buildings up and down now. We can open buildings and the openings and exits will change.”

The lighting would drop into the building through deep periscopes, which would also act as elevators.

Marco Frascari, director of Carleton’s architecture school, described the designs as “arresting and intriguing.”

Connah said the script is not so much a plan, but contains ideas for architectural solutions. “These are elements that could be designed in the next 10 or 20 years and certain technologies could change them,” he said.

“Based on the script, the building that comes out of it tomorrow would be different from what comes out of it 20 years from now.”

He adds that he doubts that “the White House is looking for a new White House. But if situations get more dangerous, it’s very possible a White House on the lawn will be more vulnerable in the future.”

Although he admitted the script “sounds like a science fiction novel,” Connah said, he added sci-fi can influence architecture.