Floating Architecture: A New Trend in Resilient Housing

Humans have a unique relationship with water. Other than it sustaining life and we also love views of the water and access to aquatic recreation. Civilization has a long history of settling next to sources of water for these very reasons. In our attempts to simultaneously develop the coasts and avoid floods we’ve often found ourselves fighting against water. Now architects are envisioning innovative and unconventional ways to design our built environment to be more resilient. Across the world architects are designing floating buildings that go beyond the typical houseboat towards consciously crafted sustainable structures that are adaptable and aesthetically awesome.

In the growing global society our land is starting to become overcrowded. Steadily increasing world populations have lead to the densification of urban habitats. The resulting increase in demand for land intensive foods overtaxes our resources and puts further strain on the supply chains that satiate our cities. Planners and architects are conceptualizing new seafaring self-sustaining structures that can become extensions to urban areas. Sustainable island towns would be really cool on their own, but the the ominous threat of climate change is what has ignited architects and municipalities to build adaptable homes that are resilient to flooding and sea level rise. These floating buildings can be a beacon for resilient architecture as they can persevere in the most vulnerable and land scarce areas. From grand districts to one-bedroom apartments designers are building floating architecture that can sustain and protect the growing populations of our planet.

(FreiLichtHaus)

In Germany’s largest lake district floating houses are becoming very popular. Architecture firm Fraunhofer have announced their state-of-the-art new model, FreiLichtHaus a floating, self-sustaining, very awesome home. With a simple angular facade the two story house boasts 1,300 square feet of living space with an additional terrace that overlooks the lake. The building is strategically designed with day lighting, energy efficiency and self-sustaining systems. The house comes equipped with a solar array, battery system and generate its own electricity, heat and water. According to an Inhabitat article that describes the sophisticated systems,

“A fireplace provides necessary heat and liquefies salt hydrates in a unit above the fireplace, which then absorbs heat from the fireplace. The great thing about this technology is that the thermal energy contained within liquefied salt hydrates can be stored almost indefinitely. When the heat is required, crystallization is triggered by radio-based technology...An adiabatic cooling system that doesn’t require electricity but is instead based on evaporative humidification principles addresses the cooling requirements of the building.The water supply is based on a combination of ceramic membranes and different electrochemical and photocatalytic processes.” Some pretty advanced stuff. Planners intend to install a series of these dock connected, self-sustaining homes throughout Europe.

(FreiLichtHaus)

Another appealing model is the Floatwing from Portuguese design firm Friday. This single story rectangular home is a self-sufficient floating luxury apartment. The design has a rooftop deck and offers a variety of models with up to three bedrooms. The home can generate 100% of its annual energy needs in only six months. It has onboard wastewater and water supply treatment functions and uses efficient energy, heating and ventilation systems. The floating home also has two outboard motors that can steer the house around making it both resilient and mobile. The home is constructed with sustainable materials and has superior deployability as it can be neatly packed into two shipping containers and sent anywhere in the world.

(Floatwing)

Yet another floating home design from the UK is the result of a design competition to build a house that utilizes London’s underused waterways, and is resilient to the frequent floods that plague the residential areas along the Thames. Baca Architects has completed the design and installation of their first amphibious home. This ingenious house is designed to cooperate with the rising floods when the banks of the river overflow. The three bedroom home is anchored to the ground but sits atop a “dock” that enables the buoyant house to rise with the water. The amphibious home is attached to four guideposts that extend up to 8 feet to allow for floodwater clearance. “With flooding becoming a regular occurrence in the UK and elsewhere isn’t it time we started to learn to live with it?” said Baca Architects.

Another floating house model is the much more modest Water Nest. The circular energy-smart structure is built with recycled materials and has a complete cradle-to-cradle design. The one floor, 1,000 square foot floating pod has an open layout and generous porch space. The roof of the pod is covered with solar panels and is optimized with daylighting and low-energy heat and ventilation management systems. The particularly cool feature of this design is its customizability. It can be easily reconfigured into residential, retail, office, restaurant or event venue space making it uniquely multifunctional and versatile.

(Water Nest)

Studiomobile has designed their own floating structure - an automated self-sustaining floating greenhouse named the Jellyfish Barge. A cross-disciplinary team of architects and botanists created this concept as a solution for water adjacent areas with infertile land. This octagonal pod floats on 96 recycled plastic drums and has 750 feet of floorboard. The crops are grown hydroponically in tubes with clean water delivered through the pods’ self-sufficient solar stills. The pumps are powered by solar energy and can suck up and purify 150 liters of freshwater, saltwater and even polluted water in a single day. The greenhouse can produce enough food for two families and serves as an alternative solution for people vulnerable to water and land scarcity.

(Jellyfish Barge)

This simple and ingenious agtech design is modular and can be linked to other pods to be scaled up into a network of floating greenhouses. The best part is that the Jellyfish Barge can be automated and remotely controlled making it efficient and convenient. This floating mini-greenhouse can serve as a solar powered, self-sustaining, resource efficient farm barge that can be implemented anywhere there's a body of water. This can be an innovative solution for poor communities suffering from drought or lack of access to food or clean water. This design can have a significant impact as it can be a local source of food and provide basic life-sustaining functions for impoverished areas.

Architect Kunle Adeyemi envisions building a floating community in Makoko, one of the poorest settlements in Nigeria often scourged by floods. Makoko, a locality of 100,000 is situated on a lagoon at the edge of Lagos and endures frequent flooding and extreme weather. Adeyemi recognized the need for resilient and replicable housing for the growing and vulnerable community. He succeeded with the first pilot design, a school built from local materials and recycled barrels. The architects collaborated with the local citizens on the design and construction of the school, utilizing their unique skills and insights while generating a greater sense of integrity and ownership.

(Makoko Floating School)

The builders used locally sourced bamboo and wood to construct the triangular three story school. The solar powered school houses 100 students and collects rainwater to use in its plumbing system. The simple design can be modified to provide accessible and sustainable schools, health clinics and housing. In a place so bound by water and its unpredictable traits this school strengthens the communities foundation. Adeyemi, who heads up NLE, is moving forward with his vision to build an entire village of these resilient structures to improve the villages' quality of life and enhance the civic functions that are lacking in this impoverished and marginalized area.

(Makoko Floating Village Rendering)

Simple solutions such as these can be implemented at a massive scale if there was the proper collaboration, financing and political will. The trend to build adaptable architecture resilient to the adverse effects of climate change is becoming ever more popular.

On a grander scale Belgian architects are conceptualizing floating district-islands that can be 3D printed using algae recycled materials. The floating districts can be an extension territory to metropolitan areas. The self-sustaining islands could host living quarters, gardens and entertainment venues. This otherworldly design also includes underwater residences anchored to the seafloor and connected to a field of tidal energy generators. They could even be connected to floating wind turbines or floatovoltaics (floating solar farms).

Off-grid and off-shore homes are becoming more popular as a sustainable, innovative and adventurous option. But some scholars are concerned with overpopulation and the exhaustion of land, warning that Earths’ civilizations will have to build artificial island cities to maintain populations. Scholars are calling this discipline of study seasteading. Researchers are imploring governments and developers to construct these floating villages to proactively provide sustainable living alternatives. China is already building islands, but instead of crude rock and steel we can build a network of sustainable floating complexes. The ultimate aspiration, and worthwhile human endeavor is to construct a buoyant built ecosystem designed as a holistic community that can facilitate sustainable and hedonistic human activity.