Christian Grande is an Italian yacht designer who may be better known for the Picchio Boat. One of his latest designs is a floating village concept which he calls the Abifloat. The project consists of a collection of homes that float and are made up of a sustainable modular design.
The Abifloat is made up of clusters of ten homes measuring 3.25 metres by 6.5 metres, with each of them branching off a central boardwalk. The individual buildings can be tailored to the requirements of the owners thanks to them being modular and can be built over a two level structure. When clusters are aligned together they become a village that floats on the water. They can be adapted and put to many other uses as well as being homes, for instance they could also be used as a resort, a mall or even as offices.
Christian Grande Design Works said: "The house boat project was conceived to offer a high level of customization for interior and exterior finishing’s. The residential user can have a lot of fun not only in configuring the ideal living space, but also in selecting energy efficient furnishings and home automation systems."
To make the most of the water they float on the floating villages have been designed to include spaces with floor to ceiling glass sliding doors that lead out onto a wooden deck. There are different modules and these include a rooftop terrace, outdoor dining area, private lounge area and each of the homes comes with its own private entrance, furnishings and space to moor a boat.
The Abifloat concept relies on various tech and materials such as aluminium posts and stringers, buoyancy reserves, sandwich wall technology which is designed using recycled plastic and thermal insulation that comes from lightweight straw or honeycombed chipboard baffles.
The exteriors of the floating village homes are decorated in teak panelling and they have a flat aluminium roof covered with solar panelling. All of the electrical and plumbing in the home is hidden in the flooring of the house, while hollow sections have acoustic and thermal insulation.
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