Niall McLaughlin Architects designed this fabulous modern houseboat for two as part of a Swedish design competition. It´s located in London. Small in size but big on innovation, this unique floating home was born from three key considerations – light, space and construction.

Our interests are light, space and construction. Our aim, to design a house which has a spatial quality which we describe as a ‘thicket’. Implicit in this is the idea that the enclosure is experienced as a congruence of lines rather than as a clearing defined by surfaces. The thicket suggested an intertwining of lines which led us to an interest in the process of weaving.
 

The Houseboat is a basket of woven carbon-fibre, containing inflatable elements at high and low levels. The lower range is for flotation. The translucent upper range forms the roof of the structure; the trapped argon gas is an integral part of the insulation of the house.

By combining inflatable and woven elements, within the depth of the construction of the houseboat, we extend the concept of interdependence between contained and container. The container and the contents rely on each other for stability.

In winter, the tiny amount of solar electricity is not needed for cooling. It is directed into the argon inflatable roof elements, which work like very low powered fluorescent fittings, glowing gently through the long winter nights.

The atmosphere of this house is deliberately northern. At the heart of our project is the delight of hiding in a hedge. There is no horizon or vista. Instead the world is experienced as tiny shifting fragments perceived through a maze of line. Light is dappled and shifting. The spatial sense is one of immersion in the dense substance of the house.

 

 

 

 

 

Have a look to the homepage :

http://www.niallmclaughlin.com/9924_1.html

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