Houseboat

Project AUTARK Home, published by Mosa. Location: Maastricht, Netherlands Category: Boathouse Connect with Mosa for more information More

Approaching the Fennell Residence from a dock on the Willamette River, you first notice the sweep of curved glue-laminated beams balance with the rich hue of exposed Western Red Cedar shingles in curvilinear patterns and copper roofing. Inspired by the setting, the house was designed as a series of curves that seem to flow over one another. A glue-laminated beam dives into the floor where you enter a side courtyard, while another breaks overhead. You enter the house and move around the staircase, into a great open living space with a full wall of glass looking out to the river and shore line beyond. This view draws you through a door in the glass wall, where you enjoy a patio on the water. The home is filled with natural light that se... More

Houseboat or house? It’s both. PORT X defies all notions of deeply rooted house or houseboat, as we know it. Its elegant curves represent clean, timeless and functional design as well as unique harmony of modern hi-tech and natural materials. Port X is composed of individual modules which are easily dismantable and thus always ready for a transport to a different location. For some this can be a fine icing on the cake while for others it can become the main reason why to consider this unique concept. Where the placement of conventional buildings might be problematic, PORT X opens a whole new range of possible locations. This concept also allows the building to grow according to the wishes of the owner – to change its structure and form t... More

Modularity A romantic gateway for two or a mobile house in the middle of a lake for the entire family or a group of friends, with a fixed width of 6 meters and lengths ranging from 10 to 18 meters, the possibilities are almost endless. Whether you want a cozy studio or a fully furnished three-bedroom house with two bathrooms, the freedom of nature is on your doorstep. Mobility With two small outboard motors, you can take your time to enjoy your trip at a moderate speed of 3 knots and wake up in a different place every day. Transportability The modular design of the house means that all its components, including equipment and furniture, can be easily stored in two standard containers and shipped to almost anywhere on the planet.... More

The design of this boathouse, on the shore of Lake Joseph, is driven by stringent guidelines prescribed in the zoning by-laws. The project carves into the pitched roof tradition of the area and extends views out towards the lake, taking a modern twist on the established building typology. This starting point sparked an iterative design process involving building orientation, openings, sunlight and materiality, to negotiate a number of factors in the design of a simple dwelling with dynamic spatial qualities. In a site-specific approach, views are directed towards desired locations along the lake while adding headroom for the programmatic functions beneath the pitched roof. Elements of addition in the rectangular dormers allow the boathouse... More

The main goal of the project was to design a house that impacts surroundings in a most minimal way, but at the same time offers out of the box innovative living experience. Each house is designed individually, depending on the location, site conditions and climate. Also the size of the house and the materials and finishes, are customizable, and can be designed according to client’s needs and lifestyle. All rooms are designed in a way to provide maximum of visual connection with surrounding landscape. Master bathroom, bedrooms and living room have direct access to the terrace around the house perimeter, making house very open and blend with environment. The base of the house is constructed of floating platform that gives great fle... More

The Exbury Egg is possibly the first water borne artist’s studio, designed to combine art, architecture and sustainability of a fragile marine environment. Artist Stephen Turner, who specialises in long term artistic explorations of environmental settings, has worked with the designers to create the Egg which he will now use as a ‘residency’, floating in the Beaulieu Estuary for a year, to examine the changing patterns of its marine ecology, while making artworks inspired, influenced and informed by his surroundings. This ambitious project tests the role of artists and architects in sensitive places and contributes to raising awareness of the importance of protecting places like the Estuary. The project is led by art, architecture an... More

Photographer’s Studio over a boat house on Stoney Lake is a reimagination of the archetypal glass house in a landscape. A continuation of thinking about this architectural ambition, the central conceit of the glass house is reconceived through a contemporary lens of sustainability, program, site and amenity. The compelling qualities of simple, open spaces; interior and exterior unity; and material clarity are transformed to enhance the environmental and programmatic performance of the building, creating an architecture of both iconic resonance and innovative context–driven design. The program envisions a building as north–facing window: a photographer’s live/work studio that is continuously bathed in diffuse and undiminished natural ligh... More

X-Architects closely collaborated with Leen Vandaele, interior decorator ar¬chitect and design consultant from Squisito, to create a houseboat that in¬ventively combines the nautical lifestyle of relaxation and enjoyment with crisp architectural tectonics. The fundamental structure of the float¬ing home is created from two catama¬ran beams (for stability), stainless steel and glass. The layout of the struc¬ture, which is 20 meters by 6.7 meters, includes an upper deck containing a concealed kitchen, living room and an informal dining area. The Lower deck houses the bedrooms, bathroom and steering cabin. It also features a ter¬race, with spiral staircase access, that can be used as a sun deck. The interior is a blend of soft white tones, wit... More

The boathouse was built as a solitary building at the Seebodner lakeside of the Millstätter lake in Carinthia. The location of the construction is characterized by the intersection line between water and soil, directly at the foot a precipitous slope in which also the remaining buildings of the property complex are situated. Due to their elevated position, those houses have anextensiveview at the south and the west façade of the boathouse. This distinctive location reasoned on one hand a complicated technical and constructional challenge, because it needed 10-metres-long drilling posts to reach weight-bearing subsoil to construct the basement. This approach that, due to the nature conservation and water rights notifications, was only ach... More

This floating house is situated in a characteristic Dutch landscape, with a sheer endless view over the fields and waters surrounding it. The house is shaped as an enclosed wooden box (for private spaces) that seems to float in a larger glass volume. The main living space gives you more than just a panoramic view of the landscape. It gives the feeling you’re part of the flora and fauna around you. From the outside the landscape is reflected in the glass. The effect is that the quite large volume seems to disappear in the landscape. More

03. INTRODUCTION TO FLOATING BUILDINGS Living on the water becomes more and more popular in the Netherlands. It is not only becoming popular because people are attracted by the sphere but also because of the new approach of the government and urban planners to coop with the new submerged water problems. Most part of the Netherlands lies beneath the sea level, to protect the land against flooding, dikes and dunes have been built. Currently new problems are rising due to the climate change; the big rivers that enter Holland bring more water each year and the rainfall is increasing. Because the sea level is higher at most places the water has no way to go other than flooding the land. One of the solutions for the flooded land is not to... More

Most of our clients wants to live in their own house. Everyone of them wants to have a home in a beautiful place, most of them near to the center or very near to its developed infrastructure. At today´s prices to such an ideal place can realistically afford only a fraction of them and only part is willing to pay for the land, which cost is equivalent to several times the price of the average plot. Our clients search their own way how to achieve the best value ratio. But the best value means different things for different people. If your claims are flexible enough and you can bear a few compromises you can get a reasonable things for good money. Sometimes we are asked to work on a plot which is on a steep hill that only a fool would buy,... More