LUXURY SEAPOD Living Becomes a Reality

| BY KEVIN PILLEY Photos courtesy of the brand

Are you looking for a simple but futuristic home by the seaside? Perhaps you will prefer to live over the sea, or even more daringly in the sea. Panama-based marine blue technology company Ocean Builders has unveiled a new fleet of $1.5 million environmentally-friendly and “eco-restorative” SeaPod homes designed for life in and above the ocean.

Ocean Builders believes it has developed a way to create a natural habitat for ocean life underneath each home. Canadian CEO Grant Romundt says, “We have developed a way to create a natural habitat for ocean life underneath each home. Our houses can restore sea life in the ocean as opposed to a house on land, where you cut down nature to build it— then put a potted plant in the corner to replace what you cut down.” Romundt hopes Seapods will soon dot the landscapes in Florida, Dubai, the Maldives, and the Far East.

The new generation of eco-friendly sea residences come in three mod- els—designed by Dutch architect Koen Olthius (Waterstudio). The SeaPod’s interior is beautifully designed, including a comfortable queen-sized bed, a full kitchen, and a modern bathroom with a smart shower. Collecting its solar power, the SeaPod generates a mild electrical current that works to attract calcium carbonate. This substance protects the structure from corrosion and rust and attracts coral; thus, new ecosystems will be born. The elevated offshore structures, supported and stabilized by air-filled steel tripods, are constructed 7.5 feet above the ocean and offer 830 square feet of living space.

Special software sensors allow residents to control everything from the lighting and temperature to shower heat and water pressure. Gidden lightbulbs, light switches, and power outlets allow users to choose between daytime white (blue tone) and nighttime white (yellow tone). Each 11.6m long SeaPod comes with wearable smart-rings. For owners, luxury is at their fingertips. They can unlock doors, turn on music, and adjust the A/C by waving a hand. A fleet of drones will deliver food, medicine, and everyday items to the pods, while “larger autonomous vessels” will transport more significant deliveries like furniture and luggage. There will also be another self-sailing vessel to collect trash and do all the housekeeping.

Some SeaPod revolutionary homes have drones as butlers and lifeguards, and all have unobstructed sea views. They will be deployed mainly in warm, humid climates; the company’s Seapods aim to turn 72% of the world covered in water into an eco-sustainable paradise. The buildings will have low to no negative environmental consequences. They will encourage wildlife, not destroy it. The goal is for one thousand Seapods to roll out in 2024. Protype trials in Phuket, Thailand, seem to prove they work well. It is a real estate as well as a hospitality project. Adds Romundt, “Giving people an amazing experience of what living in a floating home is like is the best way of growing and expanding our vision globally.” At $595 a night, Seapod Eco is the flagship of the Ocean Builders rental program and its showhouse. Located in Linton Bay in Panama, Seapods are expanding coastal living options that allow you to live in a unique environment where you create a brand new coral colony. www.oceanbuilders.com