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Take Pearl, a houseboat that features a clear dome-shaped topper and a teak ring-shaped deck. Designed by Orhan Cileli, the sleek floating home, which would house up to five occupants, explores alternatives to conventional houseboat engineering. Rather than the flat bottoms that characterize most traditional boathouses, the Pearl would have a bobber-like shape. This, along with its use of gyro-technology would mean it could stay afloat—even in a raging open sea. Pandemic isolation, a dramatic increase in the amount of time spent at home, and severe restrictions on free movement are all likely to have brought in a new crop of buyers considering the possibility of living on the water.
If you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called "The Essential List" – a handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife, Travel and Reel delivered to your inbox every Friday. To show you two extremes you need only look at Lazzarini Design’s Floating UFO home and then take a peek at The Floating Seahorse, a series of luxury floating villas that are partially underwater and constructed by real estate agencyKleindienst Group. I’m not entirely sure The Floating UFO home even takes itself seriously, while Seahorse is certainly looking to appeal to the “I’ve got more money than I know what to do with” demographic. If the different modules all have their particularities, those that stand out are certainly the SeaPod and EcoPod, due to the fact that they are erected above the water. These were conceptualized to address the lack of space in popular beach destinations.
House of Wills
That said, I envision rough seas ahead for some of the latest houseboat variations that are looking to find their niche on in the “open water” housing market. All the foundations of our society are called into question by global warming. If we want to slow down the process and hope to leave a livable Earth for future generations, we must indeed rethink the way we move, as well as the way we live. For Ocean Builders, a Panamanian company specializing in innovative marine technologies, the future of homes would look nothing like what we know today. Dura Vermeer is also developing what they term "dry-proof" and "wet-proof" houses, the former designed to prevent water intrusion, the latter to actually allow it.
Olthuis says the housing shortage in the Netherlands could fuel demand for floating homes, including in “Room for the River” areas where floods will be, at least for a portion of the year, part of the landscape. Experts say that relieving the Netherland housing shortage will require the construction of 1 million new homes over the next 10 years. Floating homes could help make up the shortage of land that is suitable for development. Olthuis says the housing shortage in the Netherlands could fuel demand for floating homes, including in "Room for the River" areas where floods will be, at least for a portion of the year, part of the landscape.
Floating Homes Of The Future
Rather, the unit would bob in gentler waterways, taking advantage of views of marine flora and fauna. So moving Jellyfish 45 through the waters with two generators would be easy and energy-efficient. The Pearl houseboat also addresses pressing concerns about the marine environment. Located in the uppermost part of the eco-friendly home, the on-board plants would aid temperature regulation, control air quality, and provide everyday sustenance. Meanwhile, rainwater would trickle down the curved exterior of the four-level home where it would be collected, then purified, for drinking water.
Waterstudio will oversee construction this winter of a floating housing development near the low-lying capital of Male in the Maldives, where 80% of the country sits less than 1m above sea level. Underneath the hulls will be artificial reefs to help support marine life. The buildings will pump cold seawater from the deep to aid air-conditioning systems. Rutger de Graaf, the cofounder and director of Blue21, said that the growing number of disastrous, unprecedented storms around the world has spurred both city planners and residents to look to the water for solutions.
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The undersides of the islands are equipped with anchor points for marine life that resemble holds on artificial climbing walls, leading to a collaboration with Ocean Futures Society, established by Jean-Michel Cousteau, the son of the explorer Jacques Cousteau. Mr. Olthuis’s architectural firm, Waterstudio, which he founded in 2003, has completed more than 200 floating homes and offices. It’s a bold solution and clearly the idea of a floating home is not going to be for everyone.
A rendering of a floating private island that can be moved around to suit the owner’s desires. And turn it around to find a more positive way of using that technology, Alex Terry, a leading architect at the firm, told Tech Insider. One solution to the lack of pragmatism has been proposed by Mott MacDonald global practice leader for water resources and flooding Fiona Barbour. The Sequential Test, set out in the government’s National Planning Policy Framework , seeks to ensure that a sequential approach is followed to steer new development to areas with the lowest probability of flooding. As floating home residents, we are most directly impacted by the Sausalito and Marin County Housing Elements. Marin County covers unincorporated Marin, which includes most of our docks and Marin City.
The first units of his high-end Oceana project in Dubai are to be delivered next summer. For the project, Mr. Olthuis and Dutch Docklands, the development firm he co-owns, are designing and building 33 islands of 11,000 square feet that support custom-built villas of up to 5,500 square feet each, at an estimated total project cost of $170 million. Schoonschip, designed by Dutch firm Space&Matter, consists of 30 houses, half of which are duplexes, on a canal in a former manufacturing area. The neighborhood is a short ferry ride from central Amsterdam, where many of the residents work.
Dutch firms specializing in floating buildings have been inundated with requests from developers abroad to undertake more ambitious projects. Rotterdam, which is 90 percent below sea level and the site of Europe’s biggest port, is home to the world’s largest floating office building, as well as a floating farm where cows are milked by robots, supplying dairy products to local grocery stores. Since the 2010 launch of the Floating Pavilion, a solar-powered meeting and event space in Rotterdam’s harbor, the city has been ramping up efforts to mainstream such projects, naming floating buildings one of the pillars of its Climate Proof and Adaptation Strategy. Rotterdam, which is 90% below sea level and the site of Europe's biggest port, is home to the world's largest floating office building, as well as a floating farm where cows are milked by robots, supplying dairy products to local grocery stores.
These areas have a high probability of flooding, at least 1 in 100 years. Zone 2 and 3a areas have a wide spectrum of flood risk, and Floodline believes there is the capacity to release such land which can be sustainably developed. Where there are no reasonably available Flood Zone 1 sites, local authorities take into account reasonably available Flood Zone 2 designated sites.
I suspect, to be realistic, it's more designed for bay water or lagoons or estuaries, Terry said. With innovation enabling engineers to build flood-resilient homes in flood-prone areas in other parts of the world, the UK has not been so quick to embrace such change. The average household size is just 1.6 people, and 37% of residents are over 65. "Living on water is normal for us, which is exactly the point," says Marjan de Blok, a Dutch TV director who initiated the project in 2009 by organising the collective of architects, legal experts, engineers and residents who worked to get the project off the ground. In addition, the sea level accommodation will boast floor to ceiling windows, uninterrupted sea views, a fully-fitted kitchen with a dining area, an open plan living area and a sun deck.
We all know how fabulous living on a floating home is, but our good fortune was illustrated more than ever during the pandemic as we enjoyed concerts, uninterrupted access to open space and the sense of community that flourished more than ever. Due to the housing shortage and changes in state housing law, all Bay Area jurisdictions have seen large increases in the amount of housing they are expected to build. The 6th Cycle requires Sausalito to plan for 724 additional housing units.
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