1.0 Lake Union Float Home, Seattle, Wa.

by Dan Nelson, Designs Northwest Architects

Design Team: Dan Nelson, Principal Architect
Shawn Sullivan, Project Architect
Interior Design: Susan Broll, Seattle Wa.
Photographer: Ben Benschneider
Contractor: Mike Villiott, Seattle Wa.



The Lake Union Float Home is located in the Eastlake area of Lake Union in Seattle Washington.

The Float Home was selected as the Northwest Magazine/Seattle AIA home of the month for January 2012. It has also been posted on several contemporary design web sites, including Contemporist, Archdaily, Architizer and Freshome. This summer it will be featured in the the book "Ten Eco Tips by One Hundred Eco Architects" by Loft Publications.

In 2009 The Float Home won a Citation Award for design excellence from the Northwest Washington Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

The Seattle houseboat community is unique. The residents share access and live in close proximity to one another, yet there is a community diversity that is unrivaled. The challenge was to create a home that had a sense of history of place amidst this diversity.

Our approach was to reference the industrial wharf buildings found in other parts of Lake Union. The' Wharf Aesthetic' drove the exterior detailing and the owner-contractor dubbed his home 'The Floating Cannery' by the end of the project.

The exterior metal grid work around around the exterior spiral stair and heat pump condenser reinforces the wharf building approach. The cedar board and batten vertical banding is reminiscent of crates that are loaded on to barges in the port, while Trespa panels add warmth to the facade.