The attraction of living on a floating home is easy to see: a life on the water, immersed in nature and the ability to enjoy both, right out the front door. The caveat for some homeowners interested in making the leap to an on-water residence may lie in the less romantic area of home utilities. At first glance it may seem that there has to be a trade-off. A house on the water must be a hassle, right? When it comes to electrical circuitry and plumbing systems…how can these possibly work seamlessly in a wet environment? This month our exploration […]
Pushing the Edge of Accommodations Design
Two years ago, renowned climber and adventure guide company owner, Harry Kent, reached out from his Via Ferrata Works office in Estes Park, Colorado with an interesting request. Could the Stephens Waring studio help his company reimagine the experience of sleeping on a rock climber’s portaledge by designing a structure that was accessible and comfortable for ordinary people to spend the night (or a weekend) hundreds of feet in the air? He wanted a design solution that would build upon the heritage of rock climbing while also integrating the latest in sustainable technologies, green materials, and geotechnical engineering that would […]
The Rising Tide for Floating Communities
By Reed Rowley The concept of the floating metropolis has lived as a science fiction concept ever since French author Jules Verne described them in his novel The Floating City in 1871. Since then, the idea of the large modern floating municipality has been parked on the scientific and engineering backburner. Today there are more people living in Antarctica than in modern floating communities around the world. However, with the twin pressures of population density and climate change causing sea levels to rise, serious attention is being refocused on reimagining and reinventing floating communities as a solution to the challenges […]
5 Principles Building Boats Can Teach Us About Building on Land
As a design firm rooted in the marine industry, we often reference the great naval architects and boat builders of the past to draw inspiration. Looking back through the annals of marine history provides not only fascinating insight into the past, it also sparks the imagination to find the next great design innovation. While boatbuilding and marine design may constitute only a small percentage of the larger architecture and design world, it’s increasingly clear that there are many best practices and principles of boatbuilding (both old and new), which can help inspire, innovate, and guide the future of architecture, construction, […]
The Rise of Glamping
Getting off the beaten path Whether it’s newcomers looking for comfortable entry into the outdoor adventure world, or seasoned outdoors people looking to get away from the crowds, a new form of adventure travel and hospitality has emerged to support the burgeoning demand. One of the hottest new trends is glamping. Defined loosely as glamorous camping, glamping combines camping with many of the luxuries and amenities of a premium resort. This can include gourmet meals, king-size beds, egyptian cotton sheets, and unlimited hot water for showers in the morning. This once obscure segment is expected to reach $5.41 billion by […]
A Call to the Wild
The Call of the Wild It’s no surprise that the global pandemic has changed our habits and behaviors. International travel restrictions and the slow return to large gatherings in public spaces, compounded with a need to escape after months of confinement, have inevitably led people to pursue alternative forms of leisure and recreation. For many, that outlet has been a call back to the wild. The 2021 Outdoor Participation Trends Report reveals that last year, 53% of Americans ages 6 and over participated in outdoor recreation at least once, the highest participation rate on record. Remarkably, that’s more than 7.1 […]
Migration Generation – who’s leaving cities and why
A recent Harris Poll of 2,050 Americans found almost a third are reevaluating their lifestyles and considering a move to a less densely populated area as a consequence of the coronavirus outbreak. More than two-thirds (39%) of urban residents have said that COVID-19 has prompted them to consider leaving for a less-crowded locale, with 18- to 34-year-old Americans the most likely to consider moving. With many expected to continue remote work schedule post-pandemic, suburban and rural areas with their lower cost of living and improved quality of life are considering ways to compete for these Gen Y and Zers and […]
The Complexity of Sustainable Boat Building
As every sector looks to incorporate sustainable best-practices, so too, does the boat building industry. Professor Fahmi Bellalouna at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences sums it up in an article (Innovation Origins), “The interest of customers in environmentally friendly and sustainable products has also reached the boat market. Sailing is per se an environmentally friendly and sustainable form of mobility that only uses wind and thermal as energy sources. As a result, many customers now pay attention to the composition of materials and the manufacturing processes of sailboats.” As custom yacht designers, we see the complexity of this issue […]