FLO Haldencanal Watercourse

FLO is a floating lodge that offers unique overnight experiences designed to increase the awareness of, and interest in, Halden watercourse's beautiful nature.

FLO is a floating lodge that offers unique overnight experiences designed to increase the awareness of, and interest in, Halden watercourse’s beautiful nature.

The project has an experiential duality as it relates to a specific canal system, topography, vegetation, climate and cultural history, but also provides a more general thematic discourse on water, which retains common associations independent of geographical location.

The lodge aims to give visitors the opportunity to experience the contrast and tension between the open, mystical and unknown exterior, to the snug, warm and safe interior.

Materials are selected to reference the canal system’s timber floating history. The traditional Norwegian bakhon gives clear visual associations to the logs that were transported through the canals and contrast to the project’s precise form and detailing. The result is a visual identity that is a combination of contemporary architecture and historical contextuality. The plywood interior is equally an affordable and unpretentious homage to history while providing a warmth and snugness.

The diagonally reverse-pitched roof organises the cabin’s interior and creates two zones – one for the kitchen and living space, and one for a sleeping alcove and a compact bathroom.

Solar panels on the roof ensure electrical self-sufficiency while an integrated container in the floating element takes care of grey and black water.

Similarly to the way in which timber has been transported throughout the ages, the cabins are dimensioned to be sluiced through the locks and mediate the height difference between the lakes.