Floating Houses?
‘Flood prevention is better than flood resilience’ according to the philosophy of the innovative Dutch floating house. A new daring development of 46 houses built on a Government-designated flood-overflow plane offers a new solution for the UK. Each two storey home is built upon a 70 ton watertight-hollow concrete box (acting as the ‘hull’), that floats secured laterally by two 5.5m horizontal mooring posts that connect to the neighboring house and six iron posts sunk into the bottom. When the river swells the house will float up to as much as 5.5m. Flexible pipes house the building services and utilities, and when the floodwaters subside, so the houses return to their original position! Developed by Dura Vermeer builders and designed by Factor Architecten (design firm based in Amsterdam), the floating houses look as if they will catch on! But at a starting price of 260,000 euros (£180,000 or $310,000), the houses are not a cheap option.
I remember hearing about this the last time we had bad flooding…maybe it’ll float this time…bad pun!
I like the green!