Exterior Flat Roofline Boathouse Design Photos and Ideas

The tiny houseboat, named Sneci, is crafted primarily from wood and aluminum.
“As an architect, I found it highly interesting to conceptualize and design a living space that has no tangible groundwork or foundations,” Bene says. “The boat gives us an opportunity to spend time, eat, drink, sleep, and awaken nearly anywhere, while blurring the boundaries between our personal selves and nature.”
“One of the most important problems we had to deal with was how we used the space available,” says Bene. “We installed a sliding door between the interior and the open rear deck, which saved a lot of space and means that the door never blocks the view or the way.”
For sleeping under the stars, two benches on the deck can be transformed into single beds and topped with mosquito netting to keep bugs at bay.
The exterior is clad in a mix of redwood and aluminum.
“One important inspiration for the overall appearance were the local fishing boats,” Bene says. “These boats have no particular designer—each owner imagines and develops their boat according to their own ideas and needs. I tried to relate to this by articulating only small, understated gestures in the boat’s styling, reminiscent of the other boats in the area.”
Architect Tamás Bene drew inspiration for the houseboat design from the lake itself, along with local fishing boats and waterside huts.
"For most of us, this is the first home we’ve owned and the first house we built ourselves. These are all floating homes, with specific requirements for materials. It wasn’t easy,” explains resident Wouter Valkenier.
Of the 30 houses, 15 are inhabited by more than one household. One home has three floors, the lowest of which is underwater, with daylight entering through the small rectangular windows above the waterline.
The Buiksloterham area in northern Amsterdam is designated for sustainable building, which made it an appealing location for Schoonschip’s founders. The houses are oriented toward the water and each other, creating a neighborly feel.
Residents of Schoonschip, a floating neighborhood in Amsterdam, designed their own houses, working with various architects and contractors. The water in the formerly industrial canal is now clean enough to swim in, but the opposite shore is still a landscape of warehouses.
The large windows let in fresh breezes and provide an opportunity for the owners to jump out of the house and into the water.
A Haiku L Series ceiling fan and Stuv 30 Rotating Fireplace are ready for warm or cold weather.
The view of Fairy Lake from the cottage.
The boathouse has a green roof and corrugated metal siding.
Named the Tatami House, the houseboat resembles the size and layout of traditional Japanese tatami rooms. "We used the tatami as a grid for the house," explains Julius Taminiau, referring to how tatami—a rectangular straw mat typically measuring 35 by 70 inches—dictates the size and proportion of traditional Japanese spaces.
The curved roof, a play off the hull of a ship, was inspired by a previous Atelier SAD home project in the Czech town of Liberec. Jerry Koza, along with engineer Tomas Kalhous and architect Adam Jirkal, spent years finding the right location and obtaining permissions. After the rigid approval process, they’re finally able to showcase the flexibility of the concept, which can range from a one-person dwelling to a family-sized float with a 1,076-square-foot floor plan and a 538-square-foot terrace.
Amid the motley of architectural styles, from nautically inspired to shingled country cabin, Herbie Schlaepfer and Barbara Haeusermann's newly built, 2,894-square-foot home is like a palate cleanser for the eyes. One zinc cube cantilevers off the other, with great walls of glass that slide open and disappear.
Made of black anodized aluminum with stainless steel hinges, the home’s warehouse-style windows are designed to withstand corrosion. No wood was used on the exterior except for the dock, called a finger pier, which allows access to the front door and the couple’s boat. The home looks out onto downtown San Francisco, with AT&T Park visible from the main deck.
The ship-like floating home comprises a two-story cuboid sitting atop a V-shaped platform that resembles the hull of a boat. Its gangway-style external staircases add to the nautical look, as does the chimney of the wood-burning stove, which pops out of the roof terrace to recall the funnel of a ship.
Exterior with cedar slat screen wall and additional storage
Wrap around ipe deck with doors to every room and storage
Wrap around ipe deck
“Water Villa” features a sunken floor below the water and an atrium at the centre of the house that connects the children's rooms in the basement with the ground floor living and dining room.
A team from the University of Coimbra in Portugal designed 'Floatwing'
In Hamberg, Germany, Houseboat on the Eilbekkanal is enveloped in sliding timber slats, creating a constant connection between the interior and the exterior.
Ducks swim close to the windows.
On the edge of the lake is a boathouse with a kitchenette and roof terrace.
The couple plan to add a kitchen garden to the platform just below the terrace that connects to the kitchen.