This houseboat of the future is a US$5.5 million floating mansion designed for sea level rise
- The Arkup houseboat is the brainchild of two French expatriates based in Florida who have a passion for the oceans and environmental preservation
Why let sea rise sink your Miami lifestyle when you can go with the flow aboard the Arkup houseboat?
Arkup features the ingenious engineering feature of four hydraulic pilings that stabilise the vessel on the sea bottom or allow it to lift like a house on stilts above floodwaters, king tides and hurricane-whipped storm surges. South Florida sea levels are projected to rise 6 to 12 inches by 2030, 14 inches to nearly three feet by 2060, and 31 inches to nearly seven feet by 2100, according to the Southeast Florida Climate Change Regional Compact Sea Level Rise Work Group. Miami Beach and the Keys may be inundated first, but the entire region is recognised as one of the most vulnerable on the planet.
In this brave new waterworld, Arkup wants to keep you high and dry on your floating home.
Noah, who constructed his ark to withstand 40 days and 40 nights of apocalyptic rain and biblical flooding, would approve. He probably could not afford the modern version, which has a sticker price of US$5.5 million, but he would like the comfort, spacious bathrooms and retractable swimming platform.
Arkup, solar-powered and equipped with a rainwater-collecting-and-purifying system, is a self-sustaining home, a green adaptation for our blue future.
“It’s more like a house than a boat but you never lose the unmistakable feeling that you’re on the water,” said Nicolas Derouin, managing director of Arkup.