Floating house

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Floating house in Sausalito near San Francisco
Floating holiday homes in Lauterbach on Rügen
Seattle's oldest floating house (built before 1912)

A floating house is a residential building or holiday home that was built on a pontoon and is firmly anchored in one place while floating on the water. In contrast to a houseboat , houseboat or houseboat, it has no hull , no drive of its own and is usually not autonomous, but firmly connected to the electricity, water and sewage network with flexible lines.

The boundaries between houseboats and houseboats are fluid, however, as these dwellings built on or in drivable hulls are often firmly anchored and remain connected to the public supply network in Amsterdam, for example, and often no longer have a functioning engine.

Colloquially, houseboats are usually used in German, regardless of their construction and driving ability. The mobile and motorized houseboats, which are rented to holidaymakers on the Mecklenburg Lake District or the Lusatian Lakes , for example , are subject to different legal rules in this country, especially with regard to the disposal of waste water and the traffic law approval as a ship or pleasure craft . In American-Canadian usage, float houses without a drive are differentiated from houseboats with a motor.

History and dissemination

Asia

Floating house in Sumatra , around 1878

In Asia there have been floating settlements on rafts for a very long time, for example in Vietnam in Ha Long Bay and in Châu Đốc on the border with Cambodia. The floating villages of Kompong Phluk and Kompong Khleang are located on Lake Tonlé Sap in Cambodia. In Hong Kong and Macau , many people live in junk settlements , which, however, consist of disused ships that are firmly connected to one another. The luxurious hotel ships on Dal Lake in Srinagar (Kashmir, India), on which the Anglo-Indian elite liked to spend their days off, formed a contrast to this .

North America

Floating house development in Seattle

In Sausalito , California , the upper class of San Francisco had their arks as weekend houses in Richardson Bay, which were also used as emergency shelters after the earthquake in 1906 . This resulted in one of the first houseboat communities still in existence today , the Floating Homes Association . Larger floating houses were also built here in five marinas , some with several floors that no longer fit on a ship's hull.

In Florida with its many waterways and on the Florida Keys to Key West , large floating houses were also built on pontoons.

One of the largest collections of floating homes has sprung up in Seattle on Portage Bay and Lake Union since 1908 . At the height of this development, the municipality had 1200 swimming houses and in 1980 there were 445. There are also floating houses on the Great Lakes in the United States and in Vancouver , Canada.

Europe

Swimming houses in Maasbommel
Floating suspension
Gymnasium in Vienna
Eilbek Canal in Hamburg-Barmbek

In the Netherlands, with its unique houseboat tradition, individual enthusiasts built their floating houses between Amsterdam's houseboats .

Architectural projects in polders were initiated to improve the flood security of the settlements, some of which were built below sea level, in the event of a storm surge. In 1995, people began to build houses on the water on waterproof concrete pontoons, which can float up to 5.5 m high on firmly anchored concrete columns with the tide or with storm tides . In 2004 46 floating houses were built in Maasbommel in the province of Gelderland.

In Sweden there is a floating hotel with an underwater bedroom. The Marinstaden swimming pool complex also swims in Nacka .

There are several sunbathing areas for swimming pools and houseboats in Copenhagen, for example at Refshalevej .

In 1994 the floating Bertha-von-Suttner-Gymnasium with 36 classes in the form of two ships and an additional gym next to the Danube Island in Floridsdorf was inaugurated in Vienna.

The city of Hamburg allocated 10 building sites in two berths on the Eilbek Canal , for which architects could apply in 2003, and after the unexpected rush for them and the first successfully implemented swimming house projects, decided to offer additional berths at Viktoriakai, Norderkai and Veringkanal . The Hanseatic city created the post of houseboat coordinator for the Department of Urban and Landscape Planning so that the applicants have a contact person.

In the summer of 2015, construction work for a swimming pool complex in front of the Humboldt Island at Tegeler Hafen is in full swing in Berlin .

In Oldenburg, two designers built their floating house on birch plywood pontoons with an epoxy resin coating.

The first floating houses were also built in 2006 on the lakes of the newly emerging Lusatian Lakeland in the flooded lignite opencast mines in Brandenburg. As of June 2015 there are swimming houses there on the Geierswalder See , on the Partwitzer See and on the Gräbendorfer See . On the Großer Goitzschesee near Bitterfeld, the first of several swimming houses floats, which are anchored in a marina in front of the reed belt, similar to the Geierswalder See.

In Lauterbach on Rügen there are holiday houses on stilts as well as a floating holiday home area on concrete pontoons on two long floating jetties, in which each of the houses also has boat berths. Swimming houses can also be rented in the port village of Wiek on Rügen.

Construction

Traditionally, floating settlements were built on rafts in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.

New building on a concrete pontoon on the Goitzsche in Bitterfeld

Later in the USA and Canada the first pontoons were built as floating bodies in order to be able to realize larger and wider ground plans than on ship hulls. In the beginning it was plywood pontoons with epoxy resin coating, which were easy to manufacture in amateur construction, or welded hollow bodies made of steel, but which in the long term have corrosion problems despite rust protection.

Modern pontoons made of seawater-resistant aluminum (EN AW-AlMg4.5Mn0.7 or EN AW-AlMg3) or plastic floating bodies manufactured using the rotation melting process offer the cost-effective and durable basis for the lightweight construction of a house platform today.

More solid, but also more expensive, are waterproof concrete tubs with a wall thickness of 15 cm, on which a house is built. Due to their high weight of up to 120 t, they are, in contrast to the wooden or steel houseboat and the smaller variants, not transportable and not craneable, but they offer greater stability in wind and waves. For weight reasons, the house on the pontoon is usually built using a timber frame construction. In Amsterdam, for example, there are also floating container hostels made from steel containers.

House technic

Flexible supply lines

The building technology in a floating house does not have to differ from that of a house on land. Electricity, water, gas and the supply of telecommunications run through flexible lines. A lifting system is required to dispose of the wastewater . A new building also offers the possibility of using innovative building technology with solar technology for hot water, heating and electricity, storage batteries, LED lighting and generators or fuel cells in order to reduce the dependence on external supply.

Many countries traditionally cook with gas , and gas cylinders can also be used to supply the stove . A heat pump heating system for obtaining heating energy from the water is a good idea if the house is well insulated. From a water law perspective, oil heating cannot be approved because of the risk involved in the storage of heating oil. The use of small sewage treatment plants for wastewater treatment is not permitted in Germany, even if this is now required on land for many houses that cannot be connected to the sewer system.

In 2005, a floating house was launched on Prieser Strand in Kiel, with which the combination of innovative building technology with traditional construction methods is being explored.

Advantages and disadvantages

View of the Geierswalder See

In contrast to permanent houses directly on the water, a floating house is flood-proof. In order to make the house as storm-proof as a house on land, however, depending on the location, solid anchoring is required. This is all the more true, the lighter the house and the more exposed the location.

In Germany every swimming pool house needs a permit under water law. Depending on the design of the float (e.g. steel or reinforced concrete), the ability to float must be proven again at differently large intervals. Algae growth , which increases the flow resistance, is not a problem in contrast to moving ships and houseboats.

In Hamburg, floating houses must be checked to ensure that they can move around bends in the canals so that they can be towed into a dock in the event of an accident , for example with a moving ship , and thus underneath them (possibly only after removal of removable superstructures) Fit bridges through.

Residents appreciate the view of the water and their own boat mooring right next to the house.

Legal basis

Berths on the flood ditch of the Landwehr Canal in Berlin

In Germany it is not allowed to anchor a swimming house at will on water surfaces where ships and sport boats are allowed to anchor. Swimming houses are considered to be lying around, require a permit under water law and are subject to different rules locally. According to the definition of §1.01 No. 11 of the Inland Waterways Regulations (BinSchStrO), it is a "floating system" which is usually not intended for locomotion .

The Hamburg rules offer a clear definition of what counts as a swimming house. In this approval guide, all the conditions are explained on 42 pages under which the construction of a floating house at a berth in the Hanseatic city is possible.

There is also a leaflet from the Federal Waterways and Shipping Administration for Berlin, which defines the legal framework for swimming houses. Among other things, it says: "The prerequisite for operating a houseboat is the existence of all necessary public law permits and a valid usage contract with the WSA (Waterways and Shipping Office) Berlin. All the requirements and conditions mentioned there must be observed."

Swimming houses are very exceptional on the lakes and rivers in Austria. A permit is not possible in Switzerland.

Current developments

The changes brought about by the shift in sea freight traffic to containers , the decline in small-scale fishing and the progress made in disarmament are making port areas, industrial properties by the water and naval bases in German cities free again for residential and leisure use.

Municipalities such as Hamburg are developing these freed-up plots for projects such as the Hafencity. In addition to berths in Hamburg, building sites for swimming houses are also being set up in Xanten, Leipzig, Schleswig, Laboe and Kröslin near Peenemünde.

Floating residential and holiday homes, marinas and houseboat areas are being created in the recultivated brown coal areas. Politicians are supporting these changes, for example, by increasing the license requirement for motor boats from five to 15 hp to promote houseboat tourism in eastern Germany.

Effects of climate change

Swimming houses Hohennauener-Ferchesarer See, Brandenburg
IBA-Dock, office building in Hamburg
Berth field in Hamburg
Residential houses in Yellowknife Canada
Floating village on Tonle Sap Lake near Siem Reap in Cambodia

The fact that the global average temperature is currently increasing is largely undisputed. Climate change is accompanied by an increase in sea levels and an accumulation of extreme weather phenomena, so that people who live in the area of ​​influence of the sea and the tides must expect an increase in flood events.

Amphibious architecture has offered flood-proof living space by the water in Asia for centuries and is now also seen by western urban planners at the international building exhibitions in Hamburg (2000–2013) and the Fürst-Pückler-Land (2000–2010) as one of the possible solutions to this challenge .

In the Netherlands, both permanent floating houses and houses on land were built on floatable pontoons that can float up during a storm surge. In German cities on the North and Baltic Seas, floating houses have already been built, such as the 1,900 m² office building for the IBA 2013.

Planning authorities are making use of new leeway and can provide additional building sites by developing areas that were previously closed for flood protection reasons. Cities such as Hamburg with a high proportion of water use this potential, for example, by designating further berths.

literature

  • Mark Gabor: Houseboat: About living on the water in floating palaces and rocking huts . Verlag Dieter Fricke, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-88184-028-1 , 128 pages; Reports on the worldwide spread of houseboats, houseboats and floating houses from the 1970s.
  • Horst Stopp, Peter Strangfeld: Floating residential buildings: Basics . 1st edition. Beuth Verlag (DIN), Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-410-20406-0 , 208 pages; In this practical volume, construction technicians and planners will find all the essential structural principles.
  • Peter Haffner, Nicole Strasser: Peace to the arks . In: Mare , number 99, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-86648-030-8 ; Focus on the floating homes in Sausalito.
  • Udo A. Hafner, Torsten Moench: Houseboats: Life on the water . 1st edition. Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-7688-3570-1 , 144 pages; About houseboats and swimming houses, legal situation, construction, building services for self-builders and prospective buyers.
  • Lisa Baker: Built on Water: Floating Architecture and Design , Braun Publishing, Salenstein 2014, ISBN 978-3-03768-178-7 , (English), 272 pages; 59 projects worldwide with a focus on swimming houses realized in Germany and Europe.
  • Jane Field-Lewis: My cool houseboat . Knesebeck Verlag, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-86873-857-5 , 160 pages; from the English Exbury Egg to designer residential buildings in Amsterdam and a floating school in Africa to the floating office building in Finland.
  • Lars Åberg, Lars Strandberg: Floating in SaUSAlito , Kerber Verlag, Bielefeld 2016, ISBN 978-3-7356-0232-9 (English), 240 pages; The book tells the story of the houseboat community in Sausalito, where hippie culture merges with the modern alternative lifestyle and its residents tell wild stories between large-format photos.

Web links

Commons : Floating Buildings  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Approval guidelines . (PDF; 1490 kB) Website of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg, p. 4; accessed on May 22, 2015. Houseboats and floating houses are included in Hamburg under the collective term “Lieger”. “Lieger” is a term from the port traffic regulations and comprises two types, which are different due to their construction: houseboats and floating houses. A houseboat is similar to a ship and includes the hull in its use; in the case of a floating house, the building / lounge is placed on a pontoon. The legal assessment and approval under water law relates to berths that have been made “stationary”, since berths that are “in motion” must be entered in the ship register. However, both types have in common that certain safety precautions must be observed.
  2. ↑ Udo A. Hafner, Torsten Moench: houseboats, life on the water . 1st edition. Delius Klasing Verlag ,, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-7688-3570-1 , pp. 126-133.
  3. ^ Mark Gabor: Houseboat, From living on the water in floating palaces and rocking huts , Verlag Dieter Fricke, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-88184-028-1 , pp. 72-85.
  4. ^ Peter Haffner, Nicole Strasser: Friede den Archen , magazine mare, number 99, mareverlag, Hamburg, 2013, ISBN 978-3-86648-030-8 , pp. 44-61.
  5. ^ Floating Homes Association . FHA website; accessed on May 22, 2015.
  6. ^ Mark Gabor: houseboat, From living on the water in floating palaces and rocking huts , Verlag Dieter Fricke, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-88184-028-1 , pp. 19-29.
  7. ↑ Mark Gabor: houseboat, From living on the water in floating palaces and rocking huts , Verlag Dieter Fricke, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-88184-028-1 , pp. 30-40.
  8. ^ Mark Gabor: Houseboat, From living on the water in floating palaces and rocking huts , Verlag Dieter Fricke, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-88184-028-1 , pp. 8-18.
  9. ^ National Register of Historic Places. (PDF; 223 kB) Website of the United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  10. ^ Insomniac in Seattle. Film tourism website; accessed on May 22, 2015.
  11. ^ Kerstin Schweighöfer: Amsterdam: Living on the houseboat. In: Merian. April 2012, accessed June 30, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Climate impact management - the water challenge . (PDF; 4.9 MB) Website of the Hamburg International Building Exhibition (IBA) 2013 in Hamburg. Documentation of the symposium February 19-21, 2009. Since building in the water transition zone requires special structural adaptations, such as B. the foundation of the buildings on piles or their execution as floating houses, they would be protected against flooding in the event of a flood disaster. P. 88; accessed on May 22, 2015.
  13. ↑ Tobias Aufmkolk, Almuth Roehrl: Floating houses. In: Planet Knowledge. WDR / SWR / ARD-alpha, August 23, 2011, accessed on July 1, 2015 .
  14. ^ Burkhard Straßmann: A hotel room under water . In: Die Zeit , No. 43/2013
  15. ^ HR television: move to the houseboat (1/3). (Video 30m00s) In: programm.ard.de. March 12, 2013, accessed June 30, 2015 .
  16. ↑ hamburg.de -Autoren M, SL: Life on the water. In: hamburg.de. November 20, 2014, accessed June 30, 2015 .
  17. ↑ NoéMie Schwaller: The swimming house. In: architonic.com. Architonic, accessed June 30, 2015 .
  18. ↑ IBA: Project 9: Floating Houses Geiserswalde. Live on the waves. (No longer available online.) In: iba-see2010.de. International Building Exhibition Fürst-Pückler-Land, archived from the original on July 8, 2015 ; accessed on June 30, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.iba-see2010.de
  19. ↑ Im Jaich: Relaxed on the water. The floating holiday homes. In: im-jaich.de. Retrieved June 30, 2015 .
  20. ↑ Editor: Floating Houses. (No longer available online.) In: hafendorf-wiek.de. The port village of Wiek, archived from the original on May 27, 2015 ; accessed on June 30, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hafendorf-wiek.de
  21. ↑ GEO: The floating villages of Ha Long Bay. In: geo.de. arte, July 11, 2009, accessed June 30, 2015 .
  22. ↑ Mark Gabor: Houseboat, From living on the water in floating palaces and rocking huts , Verlag Dieter Fricke, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-88184-028-1 , pp. 34 and 38.
  23. ↑ Udo A. Hafner, Torsten Moench: houseboats, life on the water . 1st edition. Delius Klasing Verlag,, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-7688-3570-1 , pp. 23-28.
  24. ↑ Department of Urban and Landscape Planning: Approval guidelines. (PDF 1.5 MB) In: hamburg.de. District Office Hamburg-Mitte, September 2011, p. 30 , accessed on June 30, 2015 .
  25. ↑ Floating house in Kiel. Baunetz Wissen - building technology, accessed on July 7, 2015 .
  26. ↑ Department of Urban and Landscape Planning: Approval guidelines. (PDF 1.5 MB) In: hamburg.de. District Office Hamburg-Mitte, September 2011, p. 18 f. , accessed June 30, 2015 .
  27. ↑ Editor: Houseboat and Houseboats. In: Beautiful living. Retrieved June 30, 2015 .
  28. ↑ Department of Urban and Landscape Planning: Approval guidelines. (PDF 1.5 MB) In: hamburg.de. District Office Hamburg-Mitte, September 2011, accessed on June 30, 2015 .
  29. ^ Federal waterways and shipping administration: houseboats on federal waterways in Berlin. (PDF 122 kB) Accessed July 2, 2015 .
  30. ↑ Eva Winroither: How a globetrotter found his place on a houseboat. In: The press. August 17, 2011, accessed June 30, 2015 .
  31. ↑ Philipp Dreyer: In Switzerland, floating houses will probably remain a utopia: a lake view guaranteed. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. September 23, 2005, accessed June 30, 2015 .
  32. ↑ Jochen Rieker: New edition of "Wohnen am Wasser". In: Yacht. May 27, 2014, accessed June 30, 2015 .
  33. ↑ Urban development master plan of the municipality of Vetschau / Spreewald. (PDF; 4.7 MB) Website of the IBA See 2010. Accessed June 30, 2015.
  34. ↑ Klaus Schlösser: Great fun with small boats: Driving tips and traffic rules for beginners, no license up to 15 hp . 1st edition. Delius Klasing Verlag, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-7688-3680-7 .
  35. ↑ Climate impact management - the water challenge . (PDF; 4.9 MB) Website of the Hamburg International Building Exhibition (IBA) 2013 in Hamburg. Documentation of the symposium February 19 to 21, 2009. The perspective 2050–2100 envisages a transformation of the island (Hamburg-Wilhelmsburg) into an urban zone, a transition zone and a cultural-natural zone. ... The city zone ... with the numerous port infrastructures, a long-term upgrading zone based on the HafenCity model is planned. ... The transition zone ... can be divided into cascading flood chambers for controlled floodability, ... In this zone, structural adaptation through innovative forms of living is recommended (pile dwellings, floating houses, bridge structures). It is hoped that such architectures will provide an impetus for urban development, while at the same time they are representatives of contemporary climate impact management. P. 92. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  36. ↑ Climate impact management - the water challenge . (PDF; 4.9 MB) Website of the Hamburg International Building Exhibition (IBA) 2013 in Hamburg. Documentation of the symposium February 19-21, 2009. A variety of building and green structures is required to improve the quality of living in this area. Innovative living concepts (such as floating houses or floating gardens) should be used. P. 96. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  37. ↑ Climate impact management - the water challenge . (PDF; 4.9 MB) Website of the Hamburg International Building Exhibition (IBA) 2013 in Hamburg. Documentation of the symposium February 19-21, 2009. Floating houses, for example, as well as houses on stilts and terps have a high level of resistance to hydrodynamic effects. The dynamism in the development of life forms on the water has meanwhile produced a large number of amphibious forms of construction. They range from simple terraced houses with front gardens and jetties to avant-garde houses in the high-end sector to office buildings on pillars. P. 71. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
  38. ↑ Climate impact management - the water challenge . (PDF; 4.9 MB) Website of the Hamburg International Building Exhibition (IBA) 2013 in Hamburg. Documentation of the symposium February 19-21, 2009. Maritime landscape on the Assmann Canal with floating homes, example of structural adaptation p. 73. Accessed on May 22, 2015.