These $2 Million Hurricane-Proof Floating Homes Will Go on Sale Next Year

Livable yachts to launch at Fort Lauderdale Boat Show

The ‘yachts’ are reportedly solar powered and collect rainwater for reuse onboard. Details of how the moveable accommodation works are still thin, but the concept will be launched fully at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show later this month.

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Housing startup, Arkup describe their companies vision saying: “Urban growth, rising seas, and energy independence are key challenges for our generation. Our solution is a unique avant-garde concept of life on the water. A combination of research in renewable energies, technological innovation and cutting-edge spatial design and style situates your new home between the sea and the metropolis.”

The first prototype of the design will be able to be visited next year in the Miami River, with sales expected to start the Summer of 2018. The homes will retail for approximately 2 million USD.

Floating homes could solve housing crisis

Finding appropriate accommodation for the world’s rising population is a critical problem. Population increases usually relate to increases in living in urban areas. This swelling of urban populations puts enormous pressure on often already low housing stock. Once housing becomes scarce, unless controlled by relevant authorities, the price of accommodation can rise dramatically, pushing out low-income earners. While the Arkup vision of living yachts is for the moment aimed at a high-end luxury market, the concept could be applied to provide mass housing in cities where accommodation is a problem. By using the principles of the Arkup buildings, new off-grid floating micro cities could be designed that would provide an environmentally friendly way to counter the lack of accommodation in many of the world's cities.

Low-income housing floating homes projects proposed in London

A collaboration between Baca Architects and Floating Homes Ltd is seeking to lessen the housing crisis in Greater London. The team's conceptual design consisted of a series of floating homes along London's underused London canals. The prefab buildings would be able to house 7500 people in housing need. The designers claim their unusual proposition would ease the housing crisis with almost immediate effect, the dwellings would be prefabricated and simply dropped onto the site.