Located in the north of Amsterdam, the recently-opened De Ceuval (conceptualized by Space&Matter) is a radical redevelopment project featuring homes, offices, restaurants and gardens, all accessed via elevated winding platforms that connect renovated houseboats.

A former shipping wharf, this brownfield site is being transformed from a polluted wasteland into a temporary ten-year creative haven, all designed to revitalize and rehabilitate the land it occupies and leave it cleaner at the end of its lease.

The complex is made up of an array of formerly-floating homes that are no longer seaworthy but can still be fixed up and find a second life on land. As PopUpCity reports, “The imaginatively retro-fitted houseboats that make up the creative quarter are all placed around a winding bamboo walkway and the surrounding landscape consists of plants that clean the soil.”

An incredible array of sustainable strategies are being employed in the development, both for the benefit of the site and to educate the public,  showing off “new technologies that can transform how we produce and consume resources and public services in cities. Throughout the site, solar technologies will convert energy from the sun into heat and electricity. Green roofs and water collection systems are designed to collect, purify, and store rainwater for when it’s needed. Sanitation systems will extract energy, nutrients, and water from the waste produced for on-site food production. A network of sensors provide information on performance and user behavior.”

One of the central features of the program is the Ceuvel Café, designed as a gathering and eating space for tenants and visitors alike, featuring “lectures, workshops and tastings. In the future, it will also be possible to buy locally produced vegetables [and attend] guided tours and events. Ceuvel Café will also act as a stage for artists, musicians, theat[rical performers] and filmmakers.”

The entire complex is meant to serve not only the designer and architects who occupy it, but the environment around it, using green tactics of all kinds including  “high-tech systems like sensors, monitoring devices, solar panels, and high-efficiency electric boilers. Low-tech systems also play an important role, including biological waste processing, water filtration, smart insulation methods, vegetation, and solar tubes that provide more natural light to indoor spaces.”

For all its art and controversy, the desert is perhaps the most unique defining characteristic of Black Rock City, home of the Burning Man Festival in rural Nevada. Potentially even more challenging than harsh heat and dust storms: Emphermisle, a temporary autonomous zone on the water, coming to California again this year in the middle of July.

From its creators: “We construct a floating city on the Sacramento River Delta and live on it for five days. Ephemerisle has elements of Burning Man in the early 1990s: a new adventure into an alien environment, with discoveries, adventures, and mishaps along the way.” Unlike the current form of Black Rock City, though: “There are no tickets, no central organizers, and no rangers to keep you safe.”

Its creation, though, is about more than just at temporary experience: “Seasteading seeks to move human communities out into the vast expanse of our planet covered in water. Ephemerisle gives an introduction into the physical challenges of being water and learning ways to deal with them. It also provides for small scale experimentation in differing forms of governance.”

Atossa Abrahamian describes the experience of arriving this year at the event, with its patchwork neighborhoods,  impromptu parties and unpredictable ad hoc public transit system: “It looked, at first, like a shapeless pile of floating junk, but as the boat drew closer, a sense of order emerged. The island was made up of two rows of houseboats, anchored about a hundred feet apart, with a smaller cluster of boats and yachts set off to the west. The boats had been bound together with planks, barrels, cleats, and ropes, assembled ad-hoc by someone with at least a rudimentary understanding of knots and anchors. Residents decorated their decks with banners and flags and tied kayaks and inflatable toys off the sides”

From massive illuminated Chinese restaurants to cute little BBQ tables for ten, these 14 floating restaurants make smart use of available space and turn the dining experience into something of an adventure on the sea.

Jumbo Floating Restaurant, Hong Kong

(images via: wikimedia commons)

One of Hong Kong’s biggest attractions, the Jumbo Kingdom Floating Restaurant sites within the city’s Aberdeen Harbour and has hosted the likes of Queen Elizabeth II and John Wayne. Though it began as a relatively humble floating restaurant in the ’70s, a 2003 renovation basically turned it into a theme park with sightseeing, shopping and cultural attractions.

BBQ Donut’s Floating Restaurant Tables, Germany

(images via: bbq-donut.de)

Germany’s BBQ Donut restaurant is definitely one-of-a-kind. First of all, its floating tables, which have seating for ten, make smart use of water space and are quite a novelty draw. At the center of each of these tables is a BBQ that turns into a picnic table. Each floating pod has its own built-in sound system and even silent electric propulsion so it can cruise around.

The Salt & Sill Restaurant & Hotel, Sweden

(images via: salt to sill)

The Salt & Sill is a minimalist 23-room barge that also serves as a top-notch seafood restaurant specializing in herring and fresh local produce. All 23 rooms have their own outdoor seating areas, but the hotel’s sole suite has an extra-enticing benefit: a private roof-top jacuzzi. The hotel’s location on the lake, by the way, is not a gimmick: the adjacent land simply didn’t have any room.

Sea Palace, Amsterdam

(images via: jylcat, hotel belga)

The ornate Sea Palace is Europe’s first floating Chinese restaurant, and is located near Central Station in Amsterdam. Its pagoda-style exterior is definitely not a sight you would expect to see in Amsterdam, but floating Chinese restaurants like Sea Palace are actually not uncommon in Europe.

Nusa Penida Island Floating Restaurant, Indonesia

(images via: nusaisland.wordpress.com)

Just off the small island of Nusa Penida, which is itself located near Indonesia’s Bali Island, is this cool-looking floating restaurant. The massive pontoon restaurant can be found just off Toya Pakeh beach.

Restaurants of Cat Ba Bay, Vietnam

(images via: phil_marion)

Vietnam’s Cat Ba Bay is home to several floating restaurants, which make for an interesting sight as they bob in the water alongside floating homes and fishing boats. Most of them are, of course, seafood restaurants.

Veli Lake Floating Restaurant, Trivandrum

(images via: skyscraper city)

This pretty floating restaurant can be found in Veli Lake in Trivandrum, India. The restaurant is connected to the mainland by a floating bridge.

Rustar Dhow Floating Restaurant, Dubai

(images via: rustardowboat.com)

Rustar Dhow is the world’s largest floating restaurant that actually cruises around instead of just staying in one place. It’s located in – of course – Dubai, where everything is bigger and more ornate than it is everywhere else in the world. The Rustar Dhow can carry up to 400 passengers at a time.

William Thornton Floating Bar & Restaurant, Norman Island

(images via: gogobot)

Anchored out in the water off Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands, ‘The Willy T’ is only accessible by boat. This floating bar and restaurant is known locally as one of the wildest ‘party barges’ in the area. It’s been in operation since 1985 and offers both lunch and dinner.

Petit Verdot at the Riviera on Vaal, South Africa

(images via: safari now)

The Petit Vardo floating restaurant is located adjacent to the Riviera on Vaal Hotel, which is in the Vaal River about 45 minutes from Johannesburg in South Africa. The barge is topped with an exposed dining deck, and the whole thing is illuminated at night like a giant floating lantern.

India’s Kettuvallam

(images via: noo)

In the Indian state of Kerala, beautiful houseboats with thatched roofs are a common sight floating on the water. Many of these luxury houseboats are open to tourists, who can come onboard and relax while enjoying a freshly cooked meal from the boat’s kitchen.

Tattershall Castle, London

(images via: wikimedia commons)

Moored in the River Thames in London, the PS Tatterhsall Castle is a former passenger and goods ferry built in 1934. During World War II, it was the first civil vessel to carry radar, but by 1973 the ship had run its course and was retired from service. Since 1981, it has been a popular bar and restaurant.

The Plastic Dining Room, Vancouver

(images via: inhabitat)

This lovely little floating dining room made by the School of Fish Foundation is held aloft by 1,672 plastic bottles. Made of reclaimed pinewood, the dining room serves an elegant six-course sustainable seafood menu catered by C Restaurant.

Cincinnati’s Waterfront, the Restaurant That Floated Away

(images via: eater)

Have you been wondering this whole time whether the docked floating restaurants ever escape from their moorings? It has, in fact, happened. Waterfront, a floating restaurant near Cincinnati, broke free in March of 2011 with 83 diners on board. The diners had to be rescued using “a makeshift gangplank of ladders and ropes” while the restaurant was saved from floating too far downriver by tugboats. Unfortunately, the accident caused a lot of damage and the restaurant has not been re-opened.

When the bustle of urban life becomes too much to bear, wouldn’t it be nice to retreat to your own private floating getaway – without even needing to travel? Modern house boats have all the amenities that come with living on land, and docked in an urban marina or canal, they’re just steps away from the excitement of the city. As urban centers become more populated and land more scarce, house boats could be an attractive option, especially when they’re as beautifully designed as these three.

Watervilla de Omval by +31 Architects

As fluid as the water it sits on and filled with light thanks to a wall of windows, the Watervilla de Omval is a stunning addition to the river Amstel in Amsterdam. Designed by +31 Architects, the Watervilla features a kitchen and living space at the top level with a view of the river, and cabins below the water line.

The roof slopes down in a split-level area which holds the stairway and the bathroom, creating a flat terrace for outdoor living in fair weather. Inside, an open floor plan featuring white plaster contrasting with touches of warm wood provides an open, airy feel.

Dubai House Boat by X-Architects

Built on two catamaran beams, this steel-and-glass house boat floats in the Dubai marina against one of the world’s most dramatic skylines. X-Architects and interior decorator-architect Leen Vandaele gave the two-story home a clean and simple shape and a nearly all-white color palette for a thoroughly modern result.

The upper deck contains a concealed kitchen, a living room and an informal dining area while the lower deck houses the bedrooms, bathroom and steering cabin. The home also features a spiral staircase and a terrace.

MetroShip: “The Original Modern House Boat”

If you’ve got a quarter of a million dollars to spare, you can have a MetroShip of your very own – a modern luxury houseboat hand-made in the USA by Ballinger & Co. Measuring 12 feet wide and 48 feet long, the MetroShip was inspired by the open plan of New York City loft spaces.

At night, the MetroShip lights up like a lantern, with translucent walls reminiscent of Japanese shoji screens. It’s filled with top-of-the-line appliances and furnishings including a Viking and Gaggenau kitchen, an Italian marble bathroom with Kohler shower, Sony LCD HD televisions and a W Hotel bed. Twin 60-horsepower Honda outboard engines make it easy to steer it into your harbor of choice.

(Check out our complete collection of Underwater and Oceanic Oddities.)

Houseboats are all about freedom; casting away the ties to landlocked living and casting off to new adventures on the wine-dark sea! Yet life afloat often demands more lavish lodgings than a waterborne Winnebago can provide. When it comes to extreme houseboats, however, there’s so much more to explore! From floating shacks to super-speed houseboats here are fifteen more incredible house boats and house boat designs. Also click here for more Underwater and Oceanic Oddities.)

What does it mean to be extreme? A radical houseboat design could be extremely futuristic, extremely innovative, even extremely ugly – whatever floats your boat. The rustic & rugged “Redneck Houseboat” above falls into the latter category as do many a generic houseboat. By contrast, the focus here will be on interesting and unusual houseboats for rent, for sale and for houseboat vacations.

The Cosmic Muffin takes the concept of a seaplane all too literally. Once owned by eccentric aviator extraordinaire Howard Hughes, this unique houseboat was crafted from a 1930s vintage Boeing 307 Stratoliner, the civilian version of the B-17 Flying Fortress. These days it cruises at a much more sedate pace (and lower altitude) and is available for charter houseboat rental.

There will always be those who feel the need for speed, even when the vehicle is their home. For this select group, the WallyPower 118 fills the bill. A trio of gas turbine engines propel this amazing, 118-foot long superyacht to 60 knots faster than you can say “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto”. Six guests and six crew get to enjoy life at speed at sea, surrounded by beautiful teakwood, titanium and carbon fiber fittings. Got close to $25 million to spend? You’ll need that much to call the WallyPower 118 home!

If the previous couple of extreme houseboats smack of conspicuous consumption, this next one from Amsterdam is just the opposite. Go green while cruising the Delft-blue waves with a grass-topped boat. If it were also a glass-bottomed boat, well that would be just perfect!

Also from Holland are these unusual floating hotel suites adapted from oil rig survival pods. Visitors to The Hague are encouraged to try an undoubtedly unique houseboat experience, “available by prior agreement for special occasions only.” One wonders how any occasion spent inside one of these UFO-esque survival pods could be anything BUT special.

Of course, unusual isn’t always the best thing when it comes to practical living on a budget. DIY types who feel the urge for houseboating can procure houseboat plans online, often for under $100, from companies like LiteBoats. The 16-foot and 18-foot houseboats depicted above are a good starting point for those who want to dip their toes into the houseboating lifestyle. From that point on, extreme houseboat living is only a wave away.

Continuing on that train of thought, HGTV recently featured the Railroad Houseboat shown above as one of their Extreme Homes. Among the more than 500 houseboats of various shapes, sizes and styles clustered off the coast of Sausalito CA, the Railroad Houseboat really goes off the rails design-wise. The owners of the 2,000-square-foot home managed to transform a 19th century Pullman car into a floating wonder while carefully preserving and re-working as much of the original accoutrements as possible.

History of a different flavor awaits tourists visiting the Indian state of Kerala. The government-sponsored Kerala Tourism Development Corp. has set out stringent requirements for independent operators of houseboat rentals and charters that provide guests with the utmost in luxury. These splendid houseboats of wicker, bamboo and rattan allow a leisurely view of southern India’s splendor with all the perks of subcontinental royalty.

From first class to back-of-the bus: how to describe this VERY used houseboat snapped somewhere in the UK by an astonished tourist. As originally posted, this is a “part boat, part coach, part alien spaceship”. Alien indeed – probably from the Awful Quadrant!

Most tourists interested in renting a houseboat will prefer dealing with an established operator with a fleet of standard houseboats in a range of sizes. If you’re in Australia, Unforgettable Houseboats fits the bill. The sleek, stylish ships offered by Unforgettable have a starship-like look to them that contrasts with their intended use – sedately cruising down the placid Murray River.

From the Outback to back home – ever thought about renting a luxury houseboat in Utah? Yes, Utah, home of the Great Salt Lake and formerly Deseret of the original Mormon pioneers. Not exactly the place one thinks of when houseboating comes to mind – until now. The gorgeous 70-foot houseboat pictured above is one of many, ranging from 44 to 75 feet in length, available for houseboat rental at Utah vacation destinations such as Lake Powell. Imagine visiting Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, as well as amazing Monument Valley, just minutes from your luxurious rental houseboat.

Sleepover in Seattle? Filmdom’s fave floating digs have made a splash in the real estate market. For a mere $2.5 million or so, the one-of-a-kind houseboat featured in the movie Sleepless in Seattle could be some lucky bidder’s new home on the waves. This scene of cinematic sparks between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan features 4 bedrooms and classic 1990s decor on a 2,720 square foot log float. I’ll have what she’s having!

By many accounts Holland is the houseboat capital of the world – over 10,000 woonboten (houseboats) ply centuries-old canals and coastal coves – and though some houseboaters in The Netherlands do take things to the extreme, most follow the design of the above example. Based on tried and tested cargo barges, Dutch houseboats are incredibly stable; this might be due to their heavy concrete hulls.

On the subject of concrete, what can be said about the monstrosity above? It’s a ship, it’s a building, it’s certainly ugly. Most times it’s preferred that a houseboat doesn’t sink but in this case an exception can be made.

Last and most certainly not least as far as luxury living on the water is concerned, are the spectacular Villa Nackros houseboats made in Sweden by Modern Marine Homes. Available in two sizes (large and larger), these exclusive water villas are designed to be virtually maintenance free and are constructed to the highest environmental standards. The finishing touch? Fire protection is assured through the use of an on board sprinkler system. How Swede it is!

Previously: 17 Extreme Houseboats