The brief for the raft was to create a one bedroom self contained space with the option of an extra double sofa bed, to be used as a holiday let and a spare room for friends and family. We built it from the mud up alongside our floating workshop and towed it to its mooring as a finished unit.
There were a lot of design constraints for this project: It had to float, the foot print was small (20'x14'),there were limitations on height, only the north facing wall could have windows and access, and weight had to be kept to a minimum through out the design. As always, We wanted to use sustainable materials where ever possible. We also wanted to incorporate as many plants as possible-both inside and out.
Although the footprint was rectangular, we didn't want the space to feel square. so we made the whole structure a wave shape and gave the front wall a slight bow. Despite the north facing aspect, we wanted the space to feel light and open, so we added a skylight running across the whole space and full height windows looking over the estuary.
48 reclaimed barrels gave us a maximum of 4.5 tons of usable floatation.
The skeleton of the Raft. We made laminates from a former in our workshop.
Tom made all the laminates in the workshop before the main build began.
Inside the making of the Raft, ply floor over the floating 'raft' base.
The shell is made of 2 thin layers of ply to cater for the tight curve of the laminates.
Ready to be clad in reclaimed, re-sawn oak lathes.
TIG welding the brass sheet worktops.
We cut and welded 4mm steel to build the front door of the Raft. It is then secured with an oak infill and brass bolts.
Lucy plasma cutting a reclaimed saw blade to create a window grill on the bedroom doom.
To get a nice finish on a wooden curve, you need a lot of clamps!
Hand beating brass sheet. We went all-out and even forged the brass handles for the kitchen doors.
We used 50mm of light weight substrate for the green roof and scattered a hardy sedum seed mix.
