Looking at the pictures of this home, it’s hard to believe it is actually a floating home and not some clever photoshoping. This so-called Floating House was designed and built by Steve and Nick Tidball of the ,TBWA Advertising agency and it is currently floating on the Thames in London, UK.
The so called Floating House is made of six steel shipping containers, which rest atop a floating base and are clad in wood. The base is actually a uni-float pontoon and not a steel barge as one would expect. It was used because it makes it easier to shape it so that it could accommodate the home and the garden. The walls and garden of the Floating House extend below the waterline, and thereby hide the base this home is floating on. The floor inside the home is raised 4.9 feet (1.5 m) higher than it would be in a normal house, which was also done to hide the base.
So the home appears to have two floors from the outside, but in reality only has one. The interior of the home is designed just like a real house. It features a big living room with a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. It also has an outdoor garden with a dog kennel. Power is provided via a generator, and water comes from tanks hidden beneath the home. Water pipes are routed through the dog kennel.
The house was actually prefabricated off-site and then assembled on the water atop the floating pontoon using cranes. From the looks of it, they did not alter the original shape of the containers much in order to construct this home. The Port of London Authority requirements do not allow floating homes to be self-propelled, so this one has a hidden towing mechanism. The tug boat that propels it forward floats about 98 feet (30 m) away from the home to make it appear as though it is floating on its own. A tug boat is used for towing, but is kept at a 30-m (98-ft) distance to make it appear as though it is floating on it’s own.
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