Architects design a home that floats – and the plans are free

Jennifer Duke

READY TO BUILD: The prefabricated floating home comes in a series of components.

A new design promising homes that can be built on water is likelyto shake up the housing market.

By creating a home that floats, Britain-based Carl Turner Architects are promotinga new wave of properties on to the market that can be situated on flood plains and waterways.

The plans willbe freely available on the open sources architecture project Paperhouses.

Jennifer Duke

DESIGN FREELY AVAILABLE: The design also includes a crow's nest with an observation room at the top, and garden on the roof.

Described on Paperhouses as "part house and part boat", the design responds to the increasing challenges of flooding globally and to the underuse of urban waterways.

The floating house hasa floating tray as itsbase, with a rubber-coasted insulated timber box as the house, and side panels as an outer skin.

The design also includes a crow's nest with an observation room at the top, and a garden on the roof witha rainwater harvesting tank.

Read more:
Architects design a home that floats - and the plans are free