14 PONTOON PROJECTS EYEBROW


clad in Kebony, a beautiful wood recommended by leading architects, ensuring the home perfectly complements its Kebony deck and maximises its sustainability. Comprising three floors, the so-


called ‘Villa W’ embraces a classic modernist design that maintains a strong connection with its natural surroundings. The external façade combines glass, white fibre cement and sustainable Kebony wood to create a property that is in harmony with its surroundings. The villa’s large windows make the most of the picturesque scenery, embracing the light that reflects off the sea’s surface. Although compact, this villa has enough space for a family of four, with a guest bedroom and living room at sea level, additional bedrooms and a TV room on the first floor and sauna and sauna lounge on the roof. The simplicity of the house’s


external appearance belies the complex architectural process that has gone into its creation. The balance point of the building must fall directly in the centre of the house, despite the irregular shape of its design, to ensure stability and to prevent the house from tipping. Construction on water has its special requirements and elements of the house were therefore prefabricated before being placed


on to a floating foundation weighing 160 tonnes and anchored using the durable Seaflex mooring solution and concrete sinkers. ‘Villa W’ was assembled ten miles from Marinstaden and towed to its existing location during calm weather. Throughout this build, there were a number of factors that


needed careful consideration, one of which was to source a cladding material that required minimal maintenance whilst being resistant to wear and weathering, a characteristic necessary given its waterfront location. In addition, as this is a house defined by its context in nature, one of the most significant concerns for the


designers was to ensure that the villa was environmentally-friendly. Developed in Norway, the patented Kebony technology modifies sustainably sourced softwoods so that they permanently take on the attributes of tropical hardwood, including high durability, hardness and dimensional stability. Beyond the choice of materials, this floating home has been designed to make no imprint on the natural world at its location, with the ability to be towed away at any time without impacting the bay. Timo Urala, Lead Designer at Marinetek Group, commented: “It’s always exciting to work on a challenging project with spatial and weight constraints. To create a house that floats, is well laid out and beautiful relies on top quality materials throughout. Kebony was great to work with – strong and durable, and since working on this project I’m now adding a small extension to my home with a Kebony roof terrace”. Per Thyberg, Country Manager


at Kebony Sweden (www.kebony. com), concluded: “This project is a remarkable feat of ingenuity from the team at Bluet and Marinetek. ‘Villa W’ demonstrates that with


MARINA EURO-REPORT • MARCH 2017


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36