Eight of the best examples of floating architecture from around the world

To kick start your week, we’ve rounded up eight incredible examples of floating architecture that are making waves in the design world.

1. The Floating Pavilion, located on Rotterdam’s Nieuwe Mass River, is a portable exhibition and conference space designed by DeltaSync and Public Domain Architecten. The structure is made from steel beams and translucent ETFE film and even lights up at night. 

2. The Exbury Egg is a home, workplace and a lab that is permanently moored on the Beaulieu River in Hampshire, England. The cedar and fibreglass structure was the brainchild of PAD Studio and Stephen Turner. It functions as a data collection site for the artist who lives in it. 

3. The WA Sauna on Seattle’s Lake Union by GoCStudio is a floating sauna that provides locals with a year-round community space to warm up before taking a plunge in the cold lake. 

4. Designed by MOS Architects, this cedar-clad guest house sits in the middle of a lake. The home is accessed by a walkway on the second level of the home and is complete with floating pontoons which allow it to fall and rise with the tide. Can we move in?  

5. Located in the north of the Netherlands, this floating wooden structure, known as Drie Streken was designed by artist Marc van Vilet to connect visitors to the sun and the horizon

6. Located on Lake Zurich in Switzerland, this wooden floating island was designed by Studio Tom Emerson and a group of 30 students from ETH Zurich. The island wasn’t just designed for its looks though; inside you’ll find a pool, food outlets and even a movie screen. 

7. The Stepping Stone House might not float, but it is built over water. Accessed by stepping stones set across a large pond, this glass-covered, contemporary building is a dream home for water lovers. 

8. This is one of the coolest cinemas we’ve ever seen. Designed by Ole Scheeren, the Archipelago Cinema is an outdoor cinema surrounded by the crystal-clear water and picturesque rock formations of Thailand’s Kudu Island. 

This story was first published in Stuff.co.nz