Marine

A different view every week: The self-elevating, off-grid, luxury floating home

A different view every week: The self-elevating, off-grid, luxury floating home
Arkup liveable yacht concept: take it somewhere beautiful as the ultimate home base
Arkup liveable yacht concept: take it somewhere beautiful as the ultimate home base
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: twin electric azimuth thrusters give it a top speed of 7 knots and 360-degree manoeuvrability
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: twin electric azimuth thrusters give it a top speed of 7 knots and 360-degree manoeuvrability
Arkup liveable yacht concept: luxury interior for entertaining
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: luxury interior for entertaining
Arkup liveable yacht concept: can be specced up with restaurant grade cooking facilities
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: can be specced up with restaurant grade cooking facilities
Arkup liveable yacht concept: mobile luxury lifestyle
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: mobile luxury lifestyle
Arkup liveable yacht concept: park it at a pier or marina
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: park it at a pier or marina
Arkup liveable yacht concept: master bathroom design
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: master bathroom design
Arkup liveable yacht concept: master bedroom can have the view of your choice
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: master bedroom can have the view of your choice
Arkup liveable yacht concept: hyper-modern design
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: hyper-modern design
Arkup liveable yacht concept: hydraulic "spuds" stabilize the entire home and can lift it up above 20 feet of water
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: hydraulic "spuds" stabilize the entire home and can lift it up above 20 feet of water
Arkup liveable yacht concept: take it somewhere beautiful as the ultimate home base
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: take it somewhere beautiful as the ultimate home base
Arkup liveable yacht concept: double-decker luxury marine living
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Arkup liveable yacht concept: double-decker luxury marine living
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Florida-based company Arkup has floated the concept of an off-grid, liveable luxury yacht. Powered by 30 kW of solar and twin electric thrusters, these high-class, ultra modern double decker units have hydraulic legs capable of stabilizing and lifting them out of the water.

"Floating houses are popular ways of living in some parts of the world," reads the Arkup press release, "in particular the Netherlands, US West Coast cities and South-East Asia." I can't say I've visited the first two examples, but I've spent some time in the latter, and it seems a little tasteless to compare the humble bamboo houseboats of Cambodia to the floating luxury apartments these guys are selling.

Still, the concept seems neat for those who can pay to play. A self-contained, electric, double decker houseboat that can put down hydraulic legs to elevate itself out of the swells in water up to 20 feet deep. A liveable yacht that won't make anyone seasick, and that harvests its own rainwater from a roof that doubles as a 30-kilowatt solar array, feeding up to 1,000 kilowatt-hours worth of lithium batteries onboard.

Arkup liveable yacht concept: hydraulic "spuds" stabilize the entire home and can lift it up above 20 feet of water
Arkup liveable yacht concept: hydraulic "spuds" stabilize the entire home and can lift it up above 20 feet of water

It's got a built-in communications suite, with 4G, Satellite TV, Wi-Fi and VHF radio ready to rock, and its twin 136-horsepower electric azimuth thrusters can rotate 360 degrees to manoeuvre about the place or chug along at a sedate 7 knot top speed. The deck retracts when you're on the move, there's a boat lift to get your tender out of the water, and the sun deck can be fully immersed in water to become a protected sea-pool.

Arkup sees it as a way to have a future-proof luxury getaway you can park at a marina or anchor in a river or lake to give yourself a beautiful view no matter how high sea levels might rise. Oh, and it's ready to withstand the 155 mph winds of a category 4 hurricane, if recent events have got you thinking life on the coast might be a bit rough.

Arkup liveable yacht concept: mobile luxury lifestyle
Arkup liveable yacht concept: mobile luxury lifestyle

The 4,350 square foot interior design is sleek, modern and high end, and can be tailored to become a home, a vacation home, an event/party venue, a restaurant, a gym, a day spa or whatever else you can build a business case for.

That might be where this kind of design shines, as a kind of aquatic, self contained pop-up business. You'd have to charge like a wounded bull to recoup your costs, though, assuming this "liveable yacht" is as expensive as it looks.

Source: Arkup

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9 comments
9 comments
Alien
I didn't see any mention of any waste water processing system. So is this irresponsible hedonism?
Brian M
Been tried lots of times before, hate to think what the cost is - pity not mentioned.
Main concern is whether it would really survive hurricane/storm force winds - Not so much the actual infrastructure but whether it would literally get blown away, would need one very good anchoring system as the engines just would not have enough grunt to maintain station in those conditions.
Not mention waves in those conditions! Still if money is no object, I'll take two please!
PaulLescault
Visual pollution.
Douglas Bennett Rogers
This is a good plan for an earthquake proof house if the jacks work independently and run fast enough.
ljaques
I adore those lovely little oogly boxes! I'd want more color in mine, and definitely want drapes, but I love the concept. You could even anchor it on one corner and move around with the wind, changing your views with the time of day! Cost of offloading black water would be high, and I'd want a fully solar rooftop and propane tank for gas heat, not fireplaces. Window cleaning might be dicey, too. VBG. Pricing is likely the downside, so I wonder what a smaller model would cost, something around 1,200s/f instead of 4350! An arm, a leg, and your firstborn, plus docking fees, eh?
vince
Are you kidding me Rogers? It will just topple over like the bridges in Japan!
JohnStrickland
Ready to withstand a Cat 4 hurricane, huh? ooh yeah.
Martin Winlow
@ vince14 - Ah! What the article hasn't mentioned is the submersion facility...!
Martin Winlow
*1000* kWh of battery storage!! I can't afford it *already*!