10 Boathouses That Take Architecture Over the Edge of Dry Land

Written by Jack McManus
Published on June 14, 2018

Whether lining a river bustling with rowing crews or sitting calmly at the edge of a lake, boathouses have a storied history and an inexplicable romance to match their unusual program. Designed for use as a training facility for elite rowers, a vacationer’s waterfront playground, shoreline retreat, or even as a historical preservation project, boathouses captivate the imagination as they transcend the limits of the land-form relationship on their site.

Leaving land creates a number of challenges and opportunities for an architect, particularly in creating a stable base for a building on the edge of dry land. As seen in the following collection of contemporary boathouse projects, waterfront structures can tower over the water on piles, float on a buoyant platform, or perch comfortably on the coast and connect to the water with an extended boat ramp. The relationship between a waterfront building and its corresponding body of water encompasses every aspect of a project’s architecture—affecting climate, humidity, noise, light, and particularly the panoramic views out across the water from upper floors and elevated balconies.

To celebrate a summer of cooling off by the water, here’s a collection of 10 newly-constructed or renovated boathouses (and one bonus resort complex) that take amphibious architecture to a new level.