Alex Bygrave

Origami

Rethinking current-day living on the UK’s canal system to make it comfortable, sustainable and affordable.

This project explores how the typology of canal boats might be redesigned to provide a standard of living similar to that of a modern home to enable its occupants to make the most of the natural surroundings and reduce their environmental impact, whilst remaining an affordable alternative to bricks and mortar homes.

Current canal boats are designed to fit through the lowest bridge, narrowest bit of canal and shortest lock on the network they have been created for. However, the majority spend less than 1% of their lifetime in any one of these situations.

Alongside this is ‘Watershire’, a near-future scenario that sees the creation of a new network of flood defences protecting London, featuring self-navigating floating homes and dynamic off-grid floating villages.

Canal living

Driven by soaring rent and house prices, living on the canal in central London has seen a 26% rise in popularity per year since 2012 (Source: Canal River Trust & London Assembly ‘Moor or Less’, 2013).

Spread throughout much of the UK’s (and Europe’s) prime real estate, the canal is home to a form of off-grid living that originated in the 1800s. Originally designed for the transit of goods throughout the country, the canal is home to a rapidly growing community. ‘Continuous Cruisers’ are canal boats without a mooring but with a travelling licence. The licence, protected by the 1995 British Waterways Act, states boats must be on a ‘bonafide course of navigation’ and change place every two weeks.

The canal boats that line the banks of Britain's waterways were never designed to be lived in. Although ‘self sufficient’, they are far from environmentally friendly; they have little to no insulation, are predominantly damp and account for an estimated 7 thousand tonnes of coal burnt in London per year. They also come with large maintenance costs and - unlike a bricks and mortar house - devalue over time.

The decision to live on the canal is often made in part for financial reasons, but also because the person/people enjoy the outdoors and wish to live closer to nature. Ironically, the current way of life on the canal is detrimental to the ecology of the waterways and there is no available option for living sustainably. In an effort to retain heat and provide the occupants privacy from passers by, canal boats have few windows, little natural light and often very little recreational outside space; from a habitation perspective this results in the vessels feeling ‘closed off’ from the outside.

On average canal dwellers consume ⅓ less energy than traditional homes, and are far more aware of the resources they use, as all are finite and need to be replenished regularly. However, inefficient systems and a lack of insulation results in poor living conditions and 30% more Co2 emissions than the average home.

With no requirements to own land (or a mooring if you are willing to move every 2 weeks), an ingrained wish to care for the environment within the boating community and a heightened awareness of the resources boaters use, London's ‘water estate’ is an exciting space to explore low-cost,  eco architecture and explore whether this space may provide a viable example of sustainable urban living.

This project explores how the typology of canal boats might be redesigned to provide a warm and dry, well-insulated living space with a standard of living similar to that of a modern home; including usable outside space to enable its occupants to enjoy the natural environment whilst also providing a higher level of privacy from the public towpath; provide an alternative to burning coal for heat and reduce the costly annual maintenance associated with canal boats.

The boat

Origami is designed to navigate the tunnels and waterways of the wider part of the canal network, but when moored it expands to make the most of its available space. Constructed in sections and modular in design, it is possible to add or remove lengths of the vessel, allowing it to start as a small studio and grow to support a couple or family.

Similar to the construction of a pontoon houseboat, the vessel floats on low-cost plastic flotation that is easy and cheap to replace. Removing the traditional hull leads to a significant reduction in construction and maintenance costs, but crucially enables the living structure to be very well insulated and not lose the majority of its heat to the canal; circumventing the cold and damp issues usually associated with canal boats and dramatically reducing the amount of energy required to heat the vessel during the winter months.

When expanded, Origami provides headroom similar to that of a conventional home and features recreational space on the outside of the boat in the form of fold-out decking. Sitting higher out of the water, with the option to be distanced from the towpath, Origami provides a higher level of privacy for its occupants than today’s canal boats.      

Watershire, a near-future scenario

In the coming century rising sea levels and flooding as a result of climate change promises to radically alter the landscape of the UK. Many areas of London are considered in the highest-risk bracket for flooding. The Thames barrier, designed to protect the capital city from rising sea levels, currently operates frequently in response to fluvial flooding of the Thames and it tributaries.

Drawing from flood map data, the current approach to the development of flood defences focuses on protecting high-value real estate and existing methods of managing flooding. Watershire imagines the creation of a network of holding pools and bypass canals that are used to manage the amount of excess water flowing into the Thames. Acting like reservoirs during high rainfall, London’s new holding pools protect the majority of the city by permanently devoting specific areas near the mouths of rivers joining the Thames to water.

Linked to the existing canal network, these new bodies of water and waterways provide a home to the now tens of thousands of ‘floating homes’ in London. Living on the water is no longer seen as alternative, and many believe it is actually safer than dwelling on land due to the constant threat of flooding in recent years.

Harnessing technological developments in self-driving cars, self-navigating canal homes without permanent moorings travel on ‘bonafide courses of navigation’ throughout the network, moving place every 2 weeks according to the 1995 British Waterways Act and continuous cruising licence. Now predominantly automated, vessels moor at locations determined by algorithms and form dynamic off-grid ‘cluster villages’ according to their onboard communal facilities, utilities and personal requirements.

The rear ¼ of most vessels is devoted to community infrastructure/utilities, with some vessels providing  gardens and communal space. Others run small businesses, services or utilities such as energy storage and generation or waste and Elsan disposal which, through the use of anaerobic digestion, is converted into natural gas for cooking and compost for gardens. When moored together, expandable decking forms walkways and streets throughout the floating village, connecting the separate communal spaces into squares and promenades.

The Watershire scenario was used as a platform to explore a future of floating homes within urban environments, based on emerging and current issues around housing and climate change, the Watershire scenario feeds into designing floating homes for the inland waterways for the present day.

For more information please visit www.alexbygrave.co.uk