London studio TiggColl has put a new spin on the houseboat, creating a bright and spacious family home that is step-free and easy to maintain.

Float House offer solutions to many of the challenges of typical narrowboats, showcasing new approaches to accessibility, privacy and maintenance.

Developed in collaboration with structural engineer Engenuiti and marine engineer Marmus, this floating family home has a modular structure made up of 10 interlocking steel hulls, allowing sections to be individually removed from the water for easy maintenance.

It also boasts level access, thanks to living spaces that are above rather than below the water's surface. This makes spaces accessible for those with mobility issues.

TiggColl designed the house for clients Phil and Narinda and their two teenage children, who have lived in a private houseboat community on the Grand Union Canal in Ruislip, northwest London, since 2018.

The family loved life on the water, but living in a traditional canal barge had become challenging as the children had grown older.

With only a small single bathroom and very little storage space, their home had felt increasingly cramped.

The old boat also suffered from damp and leaks, which became problematic for Narinda after she was diagnosed with a health condition that affects joints and day-to-day mobility.

"It was important that any new home on the water was crucially above it, not within it, as the cold and damp can significantly exacerbate Narinda's condition," explained David Tigg, architect and TiggColl co-founder alongside partner Rachel Coll.

Level access was also a necessity, so the home could be entered without the need for climbing up and down.

"Our ambition was to create an accessible family home that maximises the limited space available, while making sure that the houseboat touches the surroundings with a sense of lightness – bringing nature, reflectivity and sunlight as close as possible," added Coll.

Atop the 10 hull modules, secured in place with a gantry, the building volume is framed by 20 glue-laminated pine portal frames and clad externally with horizontal slats of water-resistant Accoya wood.

The architects were restricted to a length of 20 metres, to fit the size of the mooring, and a width of four metres, to allow enough space for other boats to pass on a typically narrow canal.

Within this volume, they planned a space-efficient layout that provides open-plan living and dining spaces, three bedrooms and separate toilet and shower rooms.

Cantilevered window bays provide extra space for kitchen worktops and beds in the children's rooms, providing "that all important Shakespearean sense of elbow room", according to Tigg.

"These window bays are very expressive and really define the bankside elevation of the home, with integrated ventilation panels and solar shading to suit," he said.

Inside, the exposed pine frames bring warmth to an interior palette that also includes engineered oak flooring and black kitchen cabinets.

"We wanted the design to express our studio ethos of honest expression and ultimately be radically human," said Coll.

"By giving a legibility to the rhythmic glu-lam main structural frame internally, it provided a warm, calm, natural texture to the interiors."

TiggColl's other recent projects range from a coffee and nail bar interior to a combined hotel and co-living development.

The architects hope this project will demonstrate the greater potential for floating homes in the UK, particularly in locations where the absence of a dry dock or quayside makes it impossible to remove houseboats from the water by crane for maintenance.

"We ultimately see Float House as a potential prototype for living in difficult-to-reach and confined canal, river or lake locations," added Tigg.

The photography is by James Retief.

Project credits

Architect: TiggColl
Structural engineer: Engenuiti
Marine engineer: Marmus
Landscape design and installation: Topia Landscapes
Main contractor: Stella Rossa