Tag Archives: Floating homes

This modular housing concept floats on water and is made from recycled plastic

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Some people are already fantasizing about setting up colonies on the Moon and Mars, but we have barely begun to understand and conquer our own seas and oceans. Granted, we might already be killing off these bodies of water because of your carelessness and neglect, but a large portion of the planet’s maritime territory remains unharnessed. Hopefully, however, we can be smarter about how we use this invaluable resource, especially when it comes to building homes below or on top of our waters. There have already been numerous ideas about how houses and even whole communities can be built to float on water, but this more sustainable concept not only respects the marine environment but even creates potential habitats for the creatures of the sea.

Designer: MAST

Although it will definitely require more thinking and resources, it would probably be easier if these new aquatic buildings were made using traditional materials and methods. Of course, that would also mean destroying the very environment that we’re building our new lives on. That’s nothing new as far as what we’ve been doing so far on the ground, but we already should know better by now. A new environment also means being able to start anew using the lessons we’ve learned over the past millennia, and this “Land on Water” vision is exactly that.

The literal foundations of this modular building system actually find their roots in ancient times. It inverts the typical gabion cage design, which is usually filled with rubble to create low-cost foundations and is instead filled with locally sourced, up-cycled floatation support to hold whatever structure is built on top. The flat-packed cages themselves are made from reinforced recycled plastic, making it easier to transport these sturdy modules and assemble them on location.

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In addition to avoiding the toxic anti-fouling paints used on steel and concrete foundations, these modules can potentially become new habitats for fish and crustaceans, as well as anchor points for mollusks and seaweed. In other words, Land on Water won’t just be building homes for humans but also homes for marine life that could help support the human community above in turn.

The modular cages can be used to build anything from floating houses to campsites to even pools and saunas, as odd as that might sound for structures built to float on water. Land on Water can even become the blueprint for a new kind of dynamic, off-grid floating community of the future instead of the grand structures painted by some visionaries that still embrace the traditional and harmful practices that are killing off the planet. It might not be a scalable design for supporting large and heavy buildings, but that’s exactly the point of creating smaller, more agile structures that are also more respectful of the environment they’re built on.

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Seattle’s floating home community makes room for a new wooden houseboat

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The Water Cabin is a floating home in Seattle’s Portage Bay that maintains the houseboat’s classic nautical personality and the weathered coziness of a cabin.

Wooden planks replace grassy front lawns and piers take the place of sidewalks in Portage Bay, one of Seattle’s larger remaining houseboat enclaves. Stretching from University Bridge to Montlake Park, the floating community is home to plenty of Seattleites searching for an alternative to the traditional family home.

One resident who previously rented a houseboat on Portage Bay enjoyed it so much they wanted to construct their very own water-bound retreat. Looking no further than Olson Kundig, a Seattle-based architecture firm, to get the job done, the Water Cabin is a new residence on Portage Bay that takes on Kundig’s classic cabin architecture.

Designer: Olson Kundig

Defined by a geometric silhouette that exhibits Kundig’s classic style, the Water Cabin’s frame is supported by galvanized steel structures that cradle spacious roof planes and wooden decks. Building the Water Cabin, Olson Kundig and their client hoped to blend interior and exterior spaces throughout the home. Arranged over two levels, the home’s interior spaces are specifically configured to maximize connections to the marine environment.

An open layout allows room for dining, kitchen, and office spaces to occupy the Water Cabin’s bay-level floor. A sliding wooden partition creates another room in the bay level’s office area and a hidden murphy bed reveals its purpose as the home’s guest room.

Throughout the home’s interior spaces, oakwood lines the floors and casework, while cooler silver and black metals help to cool it down. Russian birch plywood ceilings line each room overhead, capturing the natural sunlight of the day and brightening the home.

Just outside, beyond a glass corner and large sliding doors, residents can enjoy an exterior patio built from rich Ipe wood decking. There, large roof overhangs protect the patio’s wood from seasonal elements, allowing for residents to use the outdoor space on a year-round basis. Up top, the Water Cabin hosts the main bedroom where unfettered views of the water can be enjoyed as a cozy lookout. The same roof overhangs that protect the bay-level deck create a deck for the upper level.

Combining the intrinsic nautical elements of a houseboat with the “weathered informality of a cabin,” the Water Cabin’s exterior cladding is lightly stained in knotty western red cedar. Resembling the wild arrangement of trees in a forest, the Water Cabin’s wooden slats are arranged in an irregular pattern. Holding the wooden slats together, galvanized steel and flame-sprayed zinc elements provide support throughout the frame’s perimeter.

Rich, western red cedar panels line the exterior of Olson Kundig’s Water Cabin. 

Floor-to-ceiling glass windows dissolve the barrier between outdoor and indoor spaces. 

Warm oak flooring merges with the exterior Ipe wood decking.  

The Water cabin’s distinct cubic silhouette stands apart from the rest of the bay’s traditional houseboats.

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Sony’s futuristic floating habitat shows what homes could look like in 2050!

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In 2050, it is said that there will be more “climate refugees” who have lost their homes due to the impact of climate change, as well as emigrants who have been forced to leave their countries due to political problems. There may also come a time in the future when people live in floating mobile houses that drift across the world’s oceans. These groups of people could become like sea nomads, forming a unique ecosystem in which they coexist with the natural environment.

When people from a wide range of cultural spheres are living on the ocean, how do people coexist with other people or with the environment? This design prototyping examines people’s life at sea in 2050 and the ecosystem they create from the perspective of housing.

People who live on water inhabit floating mobile houses that can travel freely on the sea, depending on the weather, ebb and flow of tides, and time of the day. They may move in search of food to a place where there is a school of fish, and they may also connect with houses of different “sea cities” to interact with people with different cultures and values. People’s mobile lifestyle will make urban ecosystems more fluid.

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Floating mobile houses are housing for use at sea, equipped with an engine with a cleaning filter, sail, and stabilizers in the living space. The variable roof can be folded up in a storm to avoid the wind and erected to use the wind as a power source when traveling. The two-story structure is divided into a public space above the water and a private space underwater.

The house uses solar panels for some of its materials and produces the electricity used by the inhabitants. The electricity generated is stored in an energy tank containing water as thermal energy, which can be retrieved as electricity when needed. For houses that need more electricity, an energy tank can be autonomously connected to supply energy.

Designer: Sony

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The world’s first solar-powered luxury yacht is actually a floating villa worth $10.5 million!

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Do you also think about living in a modern luxury villa that is also a yacht powered by solar panels so you can lead the ultimate sustainable lifestyle of your dreams? Me too, and lucky for us (if being lucky also includes the $5.5 million base model cost) Waterstudio.NL and a Miami-based shipping company called Arkup have designed this insane dreamboat – literally! Called the Arkup 75, this flagship product combines luxury with off-the-grid living.

Arkup 75 lets you live in comfort and luxury in total autonomy – enjoy life between the sea, the sky, and the city. The 75 feet long yacht has a total living space of 4,350 sqft!

Arkup is a game-changer for the hospitality market when it comes to self-sustainable, blue developments. floating and overwater eco-resorts a reality with the versatility to scale, configure, even relocate. “We are revolutionizing life on the water. We leverage Arkup products and expertise for fast deployment, modular, floating communities that you scale according to market demands,” says the team.

The livable villa has 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, a giant living space, a spacious kitchen, and a sliding deck all divided between two levels. It also has a rainwater harvesting system and solar panels so let you live off the grid comfortably!

Arkup livable yachts combine the best attributes of yachts, floating houses, and waterfront villas, with the added benefits of being self-sufficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly. The Arkup livable yacht was conceived to be “future-proof”, from its ability to withstand or avoid extreme weather events to its self-contained systems that allow fully off-the-grid living.

The base model will cost $5.5 million and will come with the core amenities as well as the furniture but if you want a fully specced out version, the Arkup 75 can go well up to $10.5 million!

It is built to be energy efficient and incorporate a sustainable lifestyle with technology and systems in place like multiple solar panels on the roof and an intricate rainwater harvesting system with two 4000 gallon water tanks.

It also is modular and has stilts in case you want to dock your luxury home in the shallow waters of a remote island instead of drifting along the skyline of a big city.

The 2,300 sqft roof collects the rainwater and is covered with 36 kW solar electric panels which generate sufficient green energy to live off-the-grid. Live ecologically while being self-sufficient with water and electricity. Enjoy living off the grid and feel the satisfaction of minimizing your carbon footprint.

The smart communications system including satellite TV and WI-FI antennas, LTE, and VHF to stay connected at all times.

Rainwater is collected from the roof, then stored in the hull and purified to ensure freshwater full-autonomy. The hull also accommodates separate technical rooms for hydraulic, electrical, and storage room.

The 2,300 sqft roof is covered with 36 kW solar electric panels which generate sufficient green energy to live off-the-grid.

Two noise-free electric thrusters of 136 hp each rotate 180° for the best maneuverability to propel the yacht up to 5 knots.

The four 40ft long hydraulic legs allow to anchor in up to 20ft water depths and lift the livable yacht above the sea level.

Arkup 75 is also designed to be resistant against category 4 hurricane winds and have high insulation so that you can choose to live your best remote/flexible lifestyle in different climates while being safe.

The 456 sqft retractable terrace adds plenty of outdoor space and is surrounded by shock resistant glass railings. The sun deck located at the stern can be immersed, turning into a sea pool.

Designer: Waterstudio.NL

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Inspired by fishing boats, this houseboat’s compact lifestyle is entirely sustained through solar energy!

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Floating idly by the waters of Lake Tisza, a small, white houseboat called Sneci carries a city-dwelling couple who call the tiny vessel home. Tamás Bene, a Hungary-based architect, designed Sneci with sustainability and mobility bringing him his main inspiration. The couple, originally from Budapest, sought Bene out to build a summer home that wasn’t grounded or fixed but embedded in the beauty of The Great Hungarian Plain’s Lake Tisza.

Sneci’s pace might mimic its namesake, ‘the snail,’ with a smaller 9.9 internal combustion engine, but Bene and his clients wanted a houseboat that could bring them through Lake Tisza’s curving waterways slowly. In fact, Sneci was built for leisure. After all, the fisher’s lifestyle, which inspired the boat’s overall design, has a way of slowing things down. Bene looked to other boats dotted along Lake Tisza’s shoreline, like fishing boats, for their compact, yet functional operation – hoping to maintain an overall small size and adaptivity standard so that the houseboat’s residents could move modestly on the water, but purposefully indoors. Managing to incorporate a small kitchen, dining area, and double bed in Sneci’s small space, Bene paneled the boat’s interior walls with thermo-wood and Redwood timber. Since designers structure fishing boats primarily according to each fisher’s needs, the final vessel prioritizes practicality above aesthetics. Hoping to find a way to bridge the two, Bene maintained the houseboat’s inherent minimalism in maintaining a compact living space, while integrating subtle, nautical design accents for both the boat’s interior and exterior. Most of Sneci’s exterior cladding and structure are built from aluminum and then covered with a stately, snow-white coating. Besides aluminum, Bene utilized heat-treated thermo-wood for Sneci’s roof, decking, and back wall. Smaller portholes provide the interior living space with views of the lake and a larger, floor-to-ceiling door offers a fuller view and opens up to the houseboat’s bow deck and the artificial lake’s outdoor wonders.

However, building Sneci to blend in with Lake Tisza’s shoreline shrubbery and trees required some energy-efficient sources of power for a water system and electricity. Two solar panels line Sneci’s roof and generate enough electricity to power up electrical equipment in the houseboat’s tiny kitchen, which includes a small refrigerator, light fixtures, and one gas-powered stove plate. The kitchen’s sink requires no electricity since drinking water can be obtained through a foot pump that delivers water from a 20-liter bottle. Tamás Bene said, “We aimed to design a boat capable of assimilating into these surroundings, one that may become part of this scenery.” With a fully-contained water system, an energy-efficient source of electricity, and a modular, compact living space – I think it’s safe to say, he completed what he set out to design.

Designer: Tamás Bene

This angular timber home in Amsterdam’s sustainable floating village uses the jetty’s power grid for clean energy!

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Amsterdam is no stranger to floating homes, or even floating villages for that matter. There’s a new kid on the block though and he seems to be making waves. Taking over a previously industrial part of the city, Space&Matter recently planned a new floating village in Amsterdam that aims to become Europe’s most sustainable floating community. The new urban ecosystem, called Schoonschip is currently home to 46 households, which float atop a previously disused canal. Each household has a lot of creative control when designing their very own floating home, appearing like an urban architectural quilt floating on top of the water. The designers at i29 Architects recently revealed their own client’s rendition of the floating home, which has by now both drifted and settled into its new neighborhood.

The team at i29 Architects wanted to maximize their client’s living space indoors, so a clever combination of pitched roofing and dramatic diagonal coping gives the floating home high ceilings, a striking exterior display, and protects the roof from heavy rainfall. From the start, architecture and design went hand in hand for the team at i29 – one influencing and catering to the other, and vice versa. Further on this, i29 says, “Architecture and interior design are always intertwined and connected on each level to make a clear and unified experience. The floating home exterior design is the result of a space extensional study within the interior and vice versa.”

Inside, the floating home’s three floors are connected by an atrium, which extends through all three levels. Just above water-level, a split connection in the atrium’s middle levels leads to a loggia terrace for unobstructed views of the canal. Moving throughout the floating home, windows and glass walls cater to the views outside, which hop from window to window and floor to floor. While the basement offers direct water-level views, the living room’s sliding glass doors unfurl, bringing the home’s lounge and kitchen to the water’s edge. Then, moving to the top floor of the home, an additional loggia terrace opens up to views of the canal’s west side.

The floating neighborhood, which over 100 residents call home, is connected by a single jetty that works as a social gathering place above ground, while an underground jetty distributes green energy, connecting each household on an energy sharing grid. Water lines trace each jetty for each household to use and re-use all the water available to them. Even on a tight budget, i29 Architects pulled off both an energy-efficient home and one that’s not only aesthetically but purposefully eccentric. After all, this is a floating neighborhood.

Designer: i29 Architects x Space&Matter

These floating homes in Amsterdam are designed to beat the rising sea levels and escape the growing city population

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Fifteen minutes from Amsterdam, Waterbuurt translated to ‘Water District,’ is a neighborhood that floats, freezes, and tilts on the waters of Lake Eimer. Designed by Dutch architect Marlies Rohmer, Waterbuurt sets the stage as a water-based solution for Holland’s modern housing needs. The Netherlands actually means, ‘the low-lying country,’ indicating the country’s close proximity to water. In fact, much of the country’s land is either below sea level or just slightly above it. In order to go with the flow of the approaching tide and avoid the surging population in urban centers, Waterbuurt adapts to the rising sea levels and finds calm away from the congestion of the city.

Upon completion, 18,000 homes will comprise Waterbuurt, but for now, more than 100 of them float on jetties. The houses, which are permanently fastened to steel pylon-enforced moorings, resemble attractive shipping containers and share more in appearances with land-based housing than the familiar houseboats dotted along Amsterdam’s canals. With similar architecture to that of land-homes, each Waterbuurt floating house has to be connected to the floor of Lake Eimer, which distinguishes Waterbuurt’s homes from Amsterdam’s docked houseboats. Two mooring posts also anchor each home for optimum stability and the material used to construct the homes is chosen with careful consideration for the environment and health of Lake Eimer, so the building material does not leak pollutants into the water. Constructed from wood, the homes rest above a concrete caisson, a large watertight chamber, in order to attain a low center of gravity, further enhancing the home’s stability. The caisson is also habitable, so basement parties are sure to be a hit.

From afar, the homes look like a dizzying display of funhouse mirrors, but upon closer inspection, the homes’ true building materials are revealed: wood, plastic, and glass. Everything about the architecture of the homes centers around the water world, but all the residents have individual access to concrete jetties, bringing them to land. Running below the jetties, cables and pipes generate gas, electricity, water, cable, and provide a sewage drainage system for each floating home. Built at a shipyard, about 40 miles north, the floating houses of Waterbuurt are distinct with light wooden panels that soften, and line the several glass windows, which reflect Lake Eimer’s metallic surface. In designing the homes for residential use, there is a lot of flexibility during the construction stages. Future residents hold the creative power when it comes to deciding on which side they prefer a view or more privacy, which location on the roof they envision their terrace or garden, and even the position of their windows.

The floating homes of Waterbuurt are said to act more like land-based homes and, despite being constructed specifically to stand above water, are designed with the convenience of living on the land in mind. With that, most residents of Waterbuurt really aren’t looking for that magical ‘Aquaworld’ experience when they sign up for a floating Waterbuurt home. Since most of the residents seem to have chosen to live on the water in order to be closer to nature and retreat from the bursting city population, Waterbuurt consists of a network of homes that seem to work together with a collective ideal in mind: to move with the tide of the natural world. In fact, Waterbuurt is such a tight-knit community of water dwellers that when one resident is short on electrical power, another neighbor can offer some of theirs if they’ve got any leftover current.

Designers: Marlies Rohmer