Living on the bottom of the ocean is not a new concept. It's a theme that has been visited in literature, cinema, games, and even a few hotels have capitalized by offering underwater rooms. However, US Submarine Structures is going one step further, offering the super rich a commercially-available underwater home with the luxuries of a 5-star hotel.
H2OME is comprised of two fully-submerged floors totaling 340 sq m (3,600 sq ft) of luxury underwater living space. The residence is accessible from shore via a private pier that allows entry to the submersible home via either a central elevator or spiral staircase. The proposed layout of the top floor includes two bedrooms featuring skylight-like views of the ocean above, two baths and an open lounge area. The lower floor is made up of a master bedroom equipped with en-suite bath, kitchen with adjacent wine-cellar, dining area, library, lounge, an office space, several ocean viewing areas and most importantly, a bar.
All sea-facing walls of the lower floor are comprised of acrylic panels, allowing residents panoramic views of their own little patch of ocean. The furnishings of H2OME are supplied by a Dubai-based firm that specializes in the outfitting of 5-star hotels and superyacht interiors. The configuration pictured is only an example layout, with clients having the option of customizing their aquatic paradise however they please. In order to further enhance the view, each H2OME is fitted with exterior lights and fish feeders designed to draw out the local wildlife.
The location of the aquatic habitat can either be selected by the owner or sourced by the company itself. If a client wishes to pick the neighborhood personally, the company simply specifies that H2OME must be built at a depth of 10 to 18 m (33 to 59 ft), making it ideally suited to shallow warm seas, lagoons or mountain lakes. The structure itself is bolted to struts attached to the ocean floor for stability and maintains the same air pressure as the surface above, meaning that residents don’t need to go through a lengthy decompression process before returning to the surface. On top of location scouting, US Submarine Structures also offers a seascaping service, allowing clients to customize the area surrounding their new home with soft or hard coral gardens, creating an enticing home for tropical fish.
Water, electricity and sewage systems are conveyed to H2OME via umbilicals running from the mainland, however according to the company's website it is possible to opt for a more advanced and self-contained version of H2OME that handles its own electricity and fresh water requirements. Maintenance of the acrylic viewing panels is handled by an automated water jet cleaning system that is designed to remove algae and sea-dwelling creatures, so if all goes as planned there should be little degradation of viewing quality as time passes.
With a price tag of around US$10 million, I'm sorry to say that none of us mere mortals will be fulfilling our dream of living a peaceful life beneath the waves, but for the ultra-rich (or possibly just budding super villains), it could be a dream come true.
Source: US Submarine Structures LLC
Other than that I would be more concerned with the safety measures should one of the acrylic panels be damaged.
Unfortunately, as regular Gizmag readers will know, there are already a considerable number leisure submersibles around, some of which are quite fast, for anyone to feel safe living in one of these. Even just cracking one of its acrylic windows the water pressure will probably be more than enough cause a rupture and as a result flood the house in seconds.
Others mention graffiti. Another problem would be someone drilling a small hole in one of the windows. It would not take long for it to convert the whole house into a swimming pool - a feature the architects seem to have failed to provide for some reason.
I object to the use of the word "mortals" here. It is inappropriate and inaccurate. The Rich who could afford this are as mortal as any of us. Using this term here attempts to deify the rich, which is a very bad thing to do as too many rich persons already believe they are above the law and better than "normal" people. If peasantry or peons were used instead it would have worked better. It's still vaguely insulting to the general readership, but less dangerous than deifying human beings.