Modern houseboats: what is like to live in the future of urban design

One of the fastest growing segments in the construction industry is Wellness Real Estate. This is a concept of everyday life based on anthropocentrism and the creation of environments that are not only elegant and modern, but also designed on a human scale and functional.

Wellness is therefore not only an element to be pursued outdoor, but also to be experienced at home, with solutions that help to promote a healthy lifestyle. A vision on which Technogym, the world's leading company in fitness equipment and solutions, and its culture is based.

The solutions offered by Technogym combine a love of design with the functionality of cutting edge technology, providing not only fitness solutions, but also furnishing and design elements for the best luxury homes.

A clear example of this is the Personal Line, designed by award-winning designer Antonio Citterio. In this Line, shapes, materials, technology and functionality are perfectly combined to take their place with style in the most luxurious domestic environments.

Water is a fundamental element in the new Wellness concept behind the Wellness Real Estate. The power of water has been known since ancient times. Even today, to escape the stress of a long working week and pull the plug, people yearn for a weekend at the beach, a romantic trip to the lake or just a moment of quiet at the spa.

Perhaps it’s because that the first living cell originated in the water. Perhaps it’s because our body is composed of 65% of water. Or else, perhaps it’s because this element brings us back to the first months of life, when we were lulled inside the womb.

It is enough, in fact, to see or hear water rumbling (considered among the white noises that most promote relaxation) to make us feel relaxed and immediately invigorated.

A new way of imagining urban design

The almost primordial appeal of water also inspires innovative housing solutions, on which the interests of the world of architecture and urban planning are increasingly concentrated. Thanks to the evolution of the way we conceive work, which has become increasingly flexible and unconnected with the physical premises of offices and companies, homes are changing, responding to a concrete demand for new spaces that combine aesthetic pleasure with the advantages of advanced technologies.

Instead of fleeing the metropolis for the weekend, more and more people are choosing to buy their homes in natural settings. From this point of view the so-called "floating architecture" is enjoying great success.

Living in modern houseboats

According to the latest real estate trends, living on the water's surface is a very fashionable proposal. Indeed, houseboats provide a practical response to the scarcity of space in large cities and the increasing demand for ecological and technological solutions, so much so that traditional houses on the ground seem almost outdated.

Water is a landscape element that offers the possibility of experimenting with innovative architectural and design solutions, where contact with nature is combined with attention to sustainability and luxury.

In fact, the so-called houseboats, or floating houses, which are often seen moored along the canals of cities such as Amsterdam, Utrecht or Haarlem, have been used since the Second World War. The reasons behind their creation are various. On the one hand because they tried to solve a need given by the ever-increasing demand for housing and the lack of useful space. On the other hand, because of the desire to recover, in a creative way, the old cargo ships belonging to the Dutch fleet and ended up in disuse.

If once ports and docks were infamous places, now neighbourhoods overlooking the water have become trendy and lively. This is where modern houseboats float: for the most part finely restored, with authentic elements that restore the charm of a history spanning more than a century, without sacrificing all the comforts of modern houses, from heating to solar panels to fibre optics.

Modern houseboats are also excellent hosting solutions. Indeed, they’ve been appreciated above all by an audience of demanding tourists, looking for accommodation facilities with an original character and high quality profile.

When water meets luxury

Their versatility and sustainability make modern houseboats and floating architecture in general a field in which modern architects and designers move with great freedom, creating projects that appear almost futuristic, paying great attention to the eco-sustainability of the structure and the quality of the materials used.

The attention to the quality of materials and the care for design is also what characterizes Technogym’s Personal Line. The Line, with its cardio and functional range represented by Run, Recline, Cross, Bike and Kinesis Personal, is complemented by Power Personal, an elegant solution built with high quality materials for your strength training.

This is the case, for example, of the Floating Seahorse House, launched in 2015 by the Kleindienst Group. This project comprises of several luxurious and modern houseboats that develop the residential project The World of Dubai directly "in the" sea, with underwater rooms and transparent walls that allow the view of a beautiful private underwater garden filled with corals, purposely made outside the structure.

Other extraordinary projects are the modern houseboats designed by Dymitr Malcew, architect and designer based in Singapore, or the 140 square metre structure located in the port of Teglholmen, Copenhagen. The latter of these two modern houseboats in one of the most modern and avant-garde districts of the Danish capital. The house has large windows that embrace the interior, creating wonderful plays of light, while the gentle movement of the waves ensures complete relaxation for its guests.

Modern houseboats are already a reality of luxury real estate. We are ready to bet that the face of cities will change gradually thanks to the introduction of this particular type of building.