How Do You Build a Floating Home, Anyway? This One Used a Modular System

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Project Details:

Location: London, United Kingdom

Architect: TiggColl / @tigg_coll

Footprint: 861 square feet

Builder: Stella Rossa

Structural Engineer: Engenuiti

Landscape Design: Topia Landscapes

Photographer: James Retief / @james_retief

From the Architect: "TiggColl architects has completed The Float House, an innovative modular floating home on the Grand Union Canal in Ruislip, northwest London. The spacious and accessible family home combines contemporary design with advanced technology. TiggColl was approached by the client to design a new bespoke home on the water to replace their existing canal barge, which lacked the living space and accessibility requirements for a growing family with changing health needs. Allowance for future level access was central to the brief, as was having a property which sits above the water—unlike traditional canal barges, where the internal floor level is below the water line, leading to cold and damp conditions. Crucially, the family wished to remain within a cooperative of 35 houseboats at a private residential mooring at Hampton Hall Farm, in a beautiful but confined location.

"Inside, The Float House offers contemporary living spaces, designed to maximize the use of space and natural light. Expansive windows provide stunning views of the water and surrounding landscape, creating a serene and inviting atmosphere, giving the family an immediate connection to the water while maintaining privacy and security.

"The Float House’s external elevations are clad with horizontal accoya timber slats, a sustainable and durable material selected for its waterproofing qualities, and its ability to weather naturally with the adjacent bank, providing a dynamic appearance that works inharmony with its surroundings. An exposed timber internal structural frame provides continuity and combines a contemporary and pared back aesthetic with a warm, calm, and natural feel. The home is fitted out with high quality, understated materials and finishes, including engineered oak flooring, a sleek black painted kitchen with Dekton worktops and appliances by Hacker.

"Access to the Grand Union Canal in this location is restricted by low bridges, both upstream and downstream. Due to the absence of a dry dock or quayside, traditional methods of maintenance, such as removing the houseboat by crane, were not feasible. In response, TiggColl collaborated with a marine and structural engineer to develop a unique system of 10 interlocking steel hulls secured together by a gantry. Each hull section can be individually floated away from the gantry and lifted to the canal bank, making maintenance straightforward and manageable, without the need for extensive infrastructure. Working with Bucklands Timber, TiggColl created an expressed structure throughout the boat, following a similar systematic approach to construction. Once the floating chassis was assembled and launched onto the water, the skeleton structural frame was installed on-site, minimizing the need for construction on the water, and disruption to this canal boat community."