Contemporary Floating Homes from around the World
Written by Euphrasia Carroll
When I think of home sweet home, I don’t imagine a floating home, but after seeing a few of these innovative gems I have changed my perception of what a sweet home looks like. Take a look at these phenomenally designed showcase floating homes.
Curved glue lam beams complement the natural contours of a river on this floating house designed by Robert Harvey Oshatz. The Fennell Residence, in Portland, Oregon, was built with nature and poetry in mind. The floating house is literally a piece of art and the artist took full advantage of the views via an expansive glass façade. This home features an upstairs bedroom that looks out over the living and dining area out to the river. A massive glass door leads you out onto the deck for sunset viewing.
This futuristic eco-friendly floating solar home, designed by U.K. based Kingsley Architects, is to be placed in the Lusatian Lakelands, an area south of the Federal State of Brandenburg in North East Germany. The area consists of 10 lakes and over 13 navigable canals. What appears to be a high-tech mobile home was designed to travel in self sufficient mode operating for a period of 6 to 12 months off the grid.
On the other side of the planet, on a remote island, a quaint cottage floats on the ever-changing Lake Huron in Ontario, Canada. The change in seasons as well as global environmental changes cause Lake Huron’s water levels to dramatically fluctuate from month to month. This posed a major challenge with regard to the house’s fabrication and construction. To adapt to Mother Nature and the constant water level variations the home’s designers, Moss Architects, built the house on top of a structure of steel pontoons to fluctuate with the tides. The architectural design concept was to blend the rustic house with its natural surroundings. Its exterior walls are constructed using cedar siding and the interior is designed with simplicity in mind.
Contemporary, light and airy, 6-room floating home. Welcome to the Nackros Villa. Located in Kalmar, Sweden, this 2,000-square-foot floating home boasts interior glass walls to enhance light, 800 square feet of windows, and 1,350 square feet of terrace with views you can’t put a price tag on. The Nackros Villa was designed by Swedish architect Staffan Strindberg for Modern Marine Homes Modern Marine Homes, a floating residential project. Modern Marine Homes has a smaller version called the Nackros Villa Alba that offers 5 rooms instead of 6, or you can build on your own terms.
Resources:
http://www.trendir.com/house-design/modern-marine-home-by-swedish-1.html
http://www.gizmag.com/go/5671/
http://www.trendir.com/house-design/floating-fennell-house-design.html
http://www.trendir.com/house-design/floating-cottage-prefab-on-lake-huron-canada.html
http://www.trendir.com/house-design/mobile-floating-home-off-the-grid-solar-home-eco-friendly.html
http://www.mmh.se/060217/index.html
What others have said
Thanks to climate change we'll all be living in floating houses in the future! That or igloos.
Can't believe you left the Triblios 65 off your list. That's a truly funky floating home concept that I've started saving my pennies for!
I have actually be researching the possibility of living on a floating home and I must report that I am happy to have gone through the entire exercise. The cost of living on a floating home is far less than traditional homes, and gee you can slowly move your home to another location anytime you desire. Perfect really.
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Oh I am so envious. A floating home or house boat is a dream. A dream it will be too as I sit here in my staid lounge room working until midnight.