These prefab ‘boat rooms’ are the ultimate aquatic retreat

Architects from the China Academy of Art designed a series of “boat rooms” that appear to float on a lake at the Fuchun New Century Wonderland Resort in Hangzhou, China. What is a boat room you ask? It’s a great question that requires a little bit of history to answer.

According to the architects: “For several hundred years between the earlier Ming dynasty and the middle Qing, a water tribe, namely ‘nine fishing families,’ had resided at the riverside and created a unique culture of boat-living life.”

Aoguan Performance of Architecture

The modern “boat room” follows in the area’s tradition with wooden cabins that jut out over the lake’s shore and connect to land via steel piles. Comprising prefabricated elements assembled on site, the 540-square-foot rooms are made from wood and have an arched shape that’s reminiscent of a boat’s bow. French doors open onto a large deck that overlooks the water.

Aoguan Performance of Architecture

The cabins aren’t so much boats as they are the essence of a boat, which frankly, is best case scenario: All of the benefits of being on water, none of the motion sickness.

Aoguan Performance of Architecture

Via: ArchDaily