Minimalist Luxury Goes Modern on a Floating Chalet
Bobbing gently in the breeze, the Freefloating Ecolodge looks at first more like a spacecraft than a spot for slumber parties. But this modern floating structure can hold up to 10 people during the day and has four comfy beds for overnighters.
Dutch designer Marijn Beije developed this floating chalet in collaboration with the De Biesbosch National Park in the Netherlands. "These days nature has to compete with Xbox games and roller coaster rides, and it often loses," says Beije. Called Freefloating for short, the structure allows people to experience nature on multiple levels — water, land and sky — in minimalist, modern luxury. "I wanted people to be able to focus on the beauty around them without interfering," says Beije.
Builder: APEcolodges
Beije gave the structure a catamaran-based shape with two parallel, floating hulls. It can attach to a pier or float freely in the water. Each floating hull has a water tank underneath to stabilize the lodge. One tank holds dirty water; the other holds drinking water.
FSC-certified Western red cedar and tempered safety glass fill the structure's aluminum frame.
A solar panel provides the lodge's power. Although sustainability had an impact on Freefloating's design, Beije looked at the bigger picture instead of implementing every ecofriendly feature possible. "I believe that a design should be sustainable in a way that is so beautiful, well made and that people have such an emotional bond with, that they don't want to part with it," he says.
One cabin has a locking toilet closet and a very small kitchenette. There's also a fixed seat with a partially underwater view.
The other cabin holds four beds that fold into the cedar walls, with a floor-to-ceiling view of the sky and water. "Nature is presented here as if it were on a cinema screen," says Beije. The cabin's rocking motion lulls overnighters to sleep.
The simple cabin shapes make the beautiful outdoor surroundings, rather than the lodge itself, the highlight of staying in Freefloating. "I wanted it to simply melt into the landscape," says Beije.
A terrace connects the two cabins and leads up to a crow's nest via another ladder. The perch sits almost 15 feet above the water, offering a bird's-eye view of the lodge's surroundings.
Despite its simple appearance, Freefloating offers an irrefutable sense of luxury. "People want a standard of convenience and luxury. I gave them just that," says Beije. "Freefloating is, more than anything else, barefoot luxury."
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