BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — Many people have noticed a white floating structure right at the foot of the Hathaway Bridge over the last few weeks.
Right now, it’s a 12×12 module that’s a prototype for what will be a floating home. The builder, Arktide, will put together modules to create a place to live, on the water.
“There will be four of these put together, and they will be made out of ultra-high-performance materials like the cement, this is made out of there’s two, two and a half feet below the surface there, it’s about four feet, about four inches thick of the ultra-high-performance concrete,” Executive Management Team Member Skipper Turk said.
A tow boat takes the modules out into the water for assembly on-site, and then it’s held in place by several anchors. Arktide said the homes will not leave a negative impact on the environment.
“The oysters and barnacles are on the hull, but the fish are right underneath it so if you walked out there and put a mask on, you’d see all kinds of wildlife,” Turk said.
There is no engine, solar panels provide power to the home.
“Also combustible, incinerating toilets, recycling the water, water reclamation from the atmosphere, all kinds of really high tech technologies,” Turk said.
Arktide’s 30,000-square-foot warehouse is located here in Bay County. Company officials said they plan to build hundreds of floating homes, placing them around the Gulf Coast and expanding operations within five hours of driving from here.
The smallest home starts at $100,000.
“One of our goals is having a sustainable home that you can live in that’s affordable, I mean, we can customize these how you wish them to be,” Turk said.
Turk said the homes are built to withstand five-foot waves and windows and doors will be built to hurricane codes. The company hopes to place the first completed home in the water within 30 days. Click here to learn more.
