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Waterside Architecture

Buildings by Water – Waterside Architectural Design around the world

post updated 11 February 2024

Marine building designs

Residential Waterside Architecture

Buildings on Water – latest additions to this page, arranged chronologically:

11 Dec 2023
Jurassic House, Dorset, southwest England, UK
Design: AR Design Studio
Jurassic House Dorset southwest England
photograph © Martin Gardner
Jurassic House

26 Aug 2020
Lake Cabin in Brabourne, Kent Downs, Southeast England, UK
Design: RX Architects
Lake Cabin Kent - English Houses
photo : Ashley Gendek
Lake Cabin in Kent Downs
The site is in Brabourne within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Beauty (AONB) adjacent to a lake. The designs are for a cabin positioned on the lakes’ edge with a cantilevered deck over the water.

5 July 2020
Kite House, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, Southern England, UK
Design: AR Design Studio, Architects
Kite House on River Avon by AR Design Studio
picture courtesy of architects office
House on River Avon

12 June 2020
Backwater House, Norfolk, Southeast England, UK
Design: Platform 5 Architects
Backwater House Norfolk Broads
photograph © Alan Williams
Backwater House on the Norfolk Broads

12 Apr 2013
Yalikavak Marina, Mugla, Turkey
Design: EAA-Emre Arolat Architects
Marina Buildings Turkey - Waterside Architecture
photo : Cemal Emden
Marina Buildings Turkey
Yalikavak is one of the lagoons on the southwestern coast of Turkey, which is becoming a popular destination for blue voyages along the Turkish Riviera. Unlike its provincial center Bodrum, which has faced a building boom in 1980s with the increase of touristic activities, Yalikavak is still a relatively calm, smaller scale settlement with its natural landscape.

Residential Buildings on Water, alphabetical:

Clifton House, Cape Town, South Africa
Design: SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects
African Architecture Waterside Architecture
photo : SAOTA & Adam Letch
Clifton House – 14 Aug 2012
The clients, a British couple living in Cape Town, requested a six-bedroom, seven-level home that makes the most of the site, the views and the mountain. The lower levels of the existing structure were totally remodelled while the upper level was demolished to allow for two new levels.

Cove 3, Western Cape, South Africa
Design: SAOTA Architects ; Interiors by Antoni Associates
Knysna Waterside Property
photo : Micky Hoyle COURTESY OF VISI
Cove 3 House
Nestled in the cliff-top estate “The Cove” in Pezula, Knysna, this home was designed to be integrated into the topography & natural colour of the fynbos, maintaining a seamless connection with landscape and ocean. Situated in The Cove at Pezula Estate outside Knysna, on the West Coast of South Africa, this family home enjoys sea views to the East and South.

Dakar Sow House, Senegal, western Africa
Design: SAOTA Architects and Antoni Associates
Dakar House Waterside Architecture
photo from architects
Dakar Sow House – added 23 Mar 2012
Situated on a cliffside overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, Villa Sow in Dakar, Senegal was completed in 2011, with SAOTA – Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects, the Architects and ANTONI ASSOCIATES doing the Interior Decor. The house was designed for a Senegalese businessman and his family.

Holman House, Dover Heights, east Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Design: Durbach Block Architects
Dover Heights Building
photograph © Brett Boardman
Sydney Waterfront House – added 13 Jan 2012
Sited on the edge of a 70-metre high cliff, the plan of Holman House refers to Picasso’s painting The Bather. It contains a complex series of fluid living spaces set within a meandering perimeter that arcs, folds and stretches in response to sun, landscape and views.

Leaf House, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Design: Undercurrent Architects
Leaf House - waterside residence
photo : Hugh Rutherford
Leaf House
Leaf house is located in a garden setting surrounded by rugged bush, on an escarpment overlooking a beach on the Pacific Ocean coast. The building aims to match the exceptional beauty of its site, integrating architecture and landscape to provide inhabitants with the experience of being both inside and in-the-environment at the same time.

Loch Maree house, Northwest Highlands, Scotland
rural design
Loch Maree House Waterside Architecture
image from architects
Loch Maree house
One of the most striking houses recently planned for the Scottish Highlands. The 500m2 house on the edge of Loch Maree replaces a former foresters cottage. Set within a mature woodland setting the house has been designed to embrace the spectacular scenery.

Loch Tay Boat House, Highlands, Scotland
McKenzie Strickland Associates
Scottish Waterfront House
photograph : Keith Hunter
Highlands Waterfront House
Inspirational and courageous design work have combined to create a magical Boathouse on the shore of Loch Tay incorporating 007 class and style to create of a unique living space which breathes and changes with the loch. The result is a multi-functional “drive-in” Boathouse created over a specially constructed cave offering the client both fun on the water and a retreat.

Main Beach House, Broadwater, NSW, Australia
BDA Architects
Australian Beach House
photo : Scott Burrows
Australian Beach House
Main Beach house is a modest, single family beach house designed to replace an existing dwelling on the site which the client had owned for a number of years. The primary design idea was to embrace a two storey covered outdoor living space connecting the house and garden and overlooking the Broadwater.

Tigh na Dobhran, Arduaine, Scotland
Architects: studioKAP
Scottish Beach House
photo : Keith Hunter
Scottish Beach House
This project is located on a relatively open beach head, formerly a campsite, lying below and across the main Oban – Lochgilphead road from the village of Arduaine. The overriding characteristic of the site is of course the sea and shoreline along the south-western edge. Significant also however are the tree-lined burn along the north-west edge, the weighty presence of the Shuna Pier at the south-west corner and the embanked main road along the north-eastern edge.

Wave Rider House – Bondi Beach, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Tony Owen NDM
Bondi Beach House - Waterside Architecture
image from the architect studio
Bondi Beach House
The Wave Rider House by Tony Owen NDM is the companion house and is being built next to the iconic Wave House designed by Tony Owen and built in 2005. The form of the house is a response to the owner’s love of motor boats and it owes its form to the lines of the modern motor yacht.

Whale Beach House, New South Wales, Australia
alex popov & associates
Whale Beach Home
photo courtesy of Kraig Carlstrom
Whale Beach House
This project articulates the idea of a modernist approach to the peninsula’s traditional concept of a beachside dwelling. The site is located at the southern end of Whale Beach, between the main road and the beach.

Wilson Residence, Australia
Oge Group Pty. Ltd
Wilson Residence - Waterside Architecture
photo : Peter Scott
Waterfront Residence Australia
The house has been designed in direct response to the extreme and diverse conditions of the site and the enthusiasm of my clients who both embraced the idea of working with an architect. The house was designed to encourage the occupant to experience different emotions as they inhabit the residence on a day to day basis.

Commercial Waterside Architecture

Commercial Buildings on Water, alphabetical:

7800 Çesme Residences & Hotel, Turkey
EAA-Emre Arolat Architects
7800 Çesme Turkey Buildings
picture from architect
7800 Çesme Turkey

Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali, Indonesia
WOHA Architecture
Bali Waterfront Building
photograph : Tim Griffith
Bali Waterfront Building
This hotel and villa development is designed as an ecologically sustainable development. Located on the dry savannah landscape of the Bukit Peninsular on the dramatic southern cliffs of the Indonesian island of Bali, it comprises of a 50 suite hotel with 35 residential villas. The project is currently under construction.

Darling Harbour Redevelopment, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Design: OMA
Darling Harbour Buildings
image : OMA
Darling Harbour Redevelopment – 13 Dec 2012
The New South Wales Government announced today that Destination Sydney, consisting of Lend Lease, HOSTPLUS, Capella Capital, AEG Ogden and Spotless, is the preferred consortium for Sydney International Convention, Exhibition and Entertainment Precinct (SICEEP) redevelopment. OMA is the master plan designer within the consortium, and is also the conceptual architect of the ICC Hotels within the master plan.

Sea Sentosa at Echo Beach in Bali, Indonesia
Winner of ‘World’s Best Apartment’ award
Sea Sentosa at Echo Beach Bali Indonesia
image from architects
Sea Sentosa at Echo Beach in Bali – 11 Dec 2012
Sea Sentosa by Sentosa Worldwide Resorts has won the title of ‘World’s Best Apartment’ at the International Property Awards in London. Sea Sentosa at Echo Beach in Bali is due to open in July 2013.

Walsh Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Design: HPA Architects with PTW Architects
Walsh Bay Buildings
image : HPA + Mirvac
Walsh Bay Buildings
The water and land based buildings and vacant sites at Walsh Bay on Sydney Harbour will be used for new residential apartments with an 850 seat drama theatre as well as commercial and retail space. Redevelopment of the Walsh Bay precinct combines restoration of historic structures, adaptive reuse and new construction in order to reinvigorate this important but disused waterfront area.

Location: international

Water Architecture

Water Architecture : Article for e-architect by Matthias Neumann, 26 Mar 2013
Pool House Building
picture from architect

Waterfront Architecture

Ferry Terminals

Swimming Pool Buildings

Energy Island

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