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Planning Magazine 28 March 2008 - Taking to the Water (Waterliving)
Fri 28th Mar 08 - 20:23

Taking to the water

Houseboats have potential to meet the twin demands for affordable homes and sustainability, Catherine Early finds.

Houseboats traditionally conjure up an image of colourful but slightly unkempt homes littered with bikes, wheelbarrows and flowerpots. But one developer is striving to turn the stereotype on its head by building luxury eco-friendly floating homes that can aid regeneration.

The ultimate aim of Denmark-based Waterliving is to create self-sustainable communities. Its boats feature high-insulation windows, geothermal heat pumps, solar panels, rainwater recycling systems and sewage treatment. In the future, energy from water could power appliances.

These features have helped boost the company's fortunes. 'It was against business logic to think environmentally when I started,' says chief executive Niels Holck, who founded Waterliving in 2003. 'But I held on because I believed in it. Now times are changing.'

Holck's rationale is that sooner or later humans will have to adapt to living on water as climate change raises sea levels. But the approach has encountered significant planning obstacles in its home country Holck himself cannot get planning permission for a houseboat in Copenhagen. 'That shows the extent of the challenge,' he says.

Outside the Danish capital however, local authorities have recognised the regenerative effects that such developments have had and are queuing up to speak to Holck and his team. In Nykobing, 90km from Copenhagen, the town's image was previously so bad that the developer of a new-build scheme failed to sell any of the homes. The local authority invited artists to work on the harbourside, cleaned the polluted water and installed moorings for Waterliving's houseboats. Now a small community of 12 houseboats is thriving.

'The harbour development has put Nykobing in a different league. People bought second homes here and in a very short time they have decided to move permanently,' says Holck. 'It has become a real success story, showing how to bring in houseboats in a long-term conversion plan for a harbour that is really suffering.'

The key has been for municipalities to consider the potential for houseboats early on and embed them into development plans. Waterliving has been in talks with politicians in Denmark's fourth largest city, Aalborg, about a plan incorporating 45 houseboats.

The problem in Copenhagen is that harbourside residents who have paid a premium to live there are not too keen on houseboats. Commercial proposals have met less opposition. 'Housing developments will come, but they need a longer lead time for planning,' Holck explains.

He hopes his cause will be boosted by the need for affordable housing in Copenhagen. The city's mayor is seeking to deliver an election pledge to provide 5,000 affordable homes in five years, but only 16 have been built so far. Boats with premium views could subsidise those behind them and so make them cheaper, Holck claims.

The lifestyle attracts a range of people, from retired couples to a naval officer. Many are looking for a more community-orientated way of living, Holck says. 'People move to the cities to get away from the constraints of village life. But often they find a lot of loneliness, so now they're looking to move back into communities where they can live with like-minded people.'

Other countries have grasped the idea's potential. Holck is working on six projects in Germany, the first of which will be complete this year, three in Finland and one in Russia. The UK is the next target. North West property developer David Beard is launching the idea of waterborne homes this year. He believes that residential and commercial houseboats could bring new life to coastal and inland water areas and offer solutions to land supply and flooding problems.

Beard recognises that planning will be a major issue because the concept is new. He is working on identifying a handful of high-profile locations to showcase the idea. Glasgow, Liverpool, London Docklands, Lowestoft, Salford, the Thames Gateway and York could all be suitable, he suggests.

British Waterways head of design Marcus Chaloner describes Waterliving's projects as 'delightful'. While he acknowledges that most inland waterways in the UK would not be suitable for these types of homes because of their size, he says there are plenty of disused docks, reclaimed quarries and coastal environments where they would be appropriate.

'We're exploring ideas such as Waterliving,' says Chaloner. 'We need the right balance of activity and life on the water. I like the idea of the different uses for the boats such as restaurants, where people move from the waterside to a water-based activity. We should encourage it.'

WATERLIVING FEATURES

- Heat pump technology reduces electricity use by up to 60 per cent.

- Heat recovery ventilation creates a better indoor climate while recovering around 90 per cent of energy used.

- Windows have very high insulation standards, so little heat is lost via them.

- A sewage treatment plant can be included on board where connection to public utilities is not possible.

- The wood used for construction is not chemically treated and recyclable material is used wherever possible.

- Solar panels and small wind turbines can also be added.

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