Houses that Float

Source: Florian Holzherr archdaily.com

Floating House, Ontario, Canada, 2005 designed by MOS Architects

This project intersects a vernacular house typology with the site-specific conditions of this unique place: an island on Lake Huron. The location on the Great Lakes imposed complexities to the house’s fabrication and construction, as well as its relationship to site. Annual cyclical change related to the change of seasons, compounded with escalating global environmental trends, cause Lake Huron’s water levels to vary drastically from month-to-month, year-to-year. To adapt to this constant, dynamic change, the house floats atop a structure of steel pontoons, allowing it to fluctuate along with the lake. -- ArchDaily

Source: Iwan Baan archdaily.com

The FLOAT House – Make it Right, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, 2009 designed by Morphosis Architects

The FLOAT House is a new kind of house: a house that can sustain its own water and power needs; a house that can survive the floodwaters generated by a storm the size of Hurricane Katrina; and perhaps most importantly, a house that can be manufactured cheaply enough to function as low-income housing. 

To protect from flooding, the FLOAT House can rise vertically on guide posts, securely floating up to twelve feet as water levels rise. In the event of a flood, the house’s chassis acts as a raft, guided by steel masts, which are anchored to the ground by two concrete pile caps each with six 45-foot deep piles.

Like the vernacular New Orleans shotgun house, the FLOAT House sits on a 4-foot base; rather than permanently raising the house on ten foot or higher stilts, the house only rises in case of severe flooding. This configuration accommodates a traditional front porch, preserving of the community’s vital porch culture and facilitating accessibility for elderly and disabled residents. -- ArchDaily

Source: +31 Architects archdaily.com

Water Villa Omval, Amsterdam,  the Netherlands , 2010 designed by +31 Architects

Resting on the water, +31 Architects' latest residence offers a gently curving form complete with a roof terrace. According to the architects, “The split-level principle of the watervilla is accentuated by the round design of the facade.” -- ArchDaily

Source: Marcel van der Burg archdaily.com

Floating Houses in IJburg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2011 designed by Architectenbureau Marlies Rohmer

Seventy-five floating homes and waterside dyke houses in the private (rental and owner-occupied) sector. Canals with houseboats are of course a familiar sight in Dutch cities and one may find the occasional floating hotel or restaurant. But these are always individual units and bear more resemblance to boats than to houses. In recent years, however, there has been an increase in the number of water-based housing developments that share more characteristics with land-based housing. These floating dwellings form part of an urban design. -- ArchDaily

Source: autarkhome

Autarkhome: Sustainable Floating Passivhaus, Maastricht, The Netherlands, designed by Pieter Kromwijk

This is a floating home that is entirely self-sufficient and docked in Maastricht, Netherlands.  Designed by Pieter Kromwijk and referred to as Autarkhome, the solar-powered project was built to the Passivhaus standard and is 10 times more energy efficient than the average dwelling of similar size. -- Jetson Green

Source: Richard Navara archdaily.com

The SayBoat, Marina Vltava, Nelahozeves, Czech Republic, 2012 designed by Milan Řídký

The construction of minimalist house on the water was intended to provide a highly comfortable year-round housing for two people or to be a residence for family weekends. The houseboat is built with a clear vision which can be summarized in Corbusier‘s assertion that “human habitation should be a cell with a view of the stars”. -- ArchDaily

Source: StijnStijl archdaily.com

Parkark, Kanaalweg, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2013 designed by BYTR architecten

....to have the full experience of ‘living and floating on the water’, though without the application of a hackneyed nautical form language, such as portholes. Finally, they wanted a boat where no one can look in, but at the same time they wanted a full view of the park. -- ArchDaily