A Floating Development From the Construction Ground, By Ocean Builders.

Writer: Nataly Velásquez Rodríguez. Editor: Nathalie Mezza-García.

@SeaphiaGroup

The floating space is rich in breathtaking designs and visionary plans. However, the next step: construction, is a big endeavor. It takes a huge amount of resources (financial, human, material) and good coordination in order to deal with the ups and downs of the day-to-day at warehouses, and the challenges to stay loyal to the amazing ideas on paper while bringing them to real life. This is a fact for Ocean Builders’ CEO, Grant Romundt, and his team at their Panama creation site. Every week, literally and metaphorically, they break molds and show to the world and to Aquatecture lovers that a powerful cocktail of passion, smart alliances, and determination can make anything happen, including homes that float and have just curves!

Over 30 builders wear the Ocean builders shirt at the warehouse. Many others work remotely while they see their dream of floating neighborhoods on the ocean come to fruition. The result: The Seapods: a unique shell-shaped floating house, inspired in the fluid and infinite nature of water, without rigid angles and aimed to be ultramodern and futuristic from the sight to the core of its functioning. At Seaphia, we are amazed by the process and progress that Ocean Builders has put in place, which will allow them to launch the houses on the water soon.

Grant was born in Canada and became passionate about technology at a very early age. How many people can say they wrote software and competed in a science fair when they were 8? Well, Grant did. Today, he has six-figure companies in the industries of sales, education, and technology. Together with Rüdiger Koch, a former german navy officer, they have made of magic and Innovation their mantra. Koch has patented floating prototypes and developed aerial and nautical military defense systems. As their about page mentions

“Our modus operandi is to innovate, innovate, innovate and then innovate some more”.

In a seashell (a bit of a pun intended) Ocean Builders engineered a home, the Seapod, that highlights and maximizes the characteristics of some of the oldest forms of housing that living creatures have used: a curved seashell is strong but adaptable to its environment, it’s beautiful still practical. Most importantly it’s made by the ocean and goes back to it, without disrupting the life around it. The Seapods are worth an expo at an art gallery: all walls are free of 90º corners and fabricated with materials that can interact with the water at no harmful expenses:

”By using a small electric current we stimulate the accumulation of calcium carbonate on our steel spar which helps form a protective layer over the steel structure to keep it from rusting and at the same time it supports ocean life, like coral”.(Ocean Builders website).

Living in a Seapod you will feel as protected and precious as a pearl.

Let’s dive into the details its creator shared with us during the most recent episode of our Floating Cities Show.

Seapods are kept stable by a spar. The spar helps with floatability, and a tripod structure around it helps more with stabilization. These spars have diverse uses. One is a landing pad for one-person and delivery drones. Ocean Builders is in conversations with eHang, a Chinese commercial aerospace manufacturer, well known for its eco-friendly and intelligent low-altitude passenger autonomous aerial vehicle. There are business talks on a partnership between the floating house builder and the urban mobility aviator. So, commuting to a Seapod is like flying In a car in The Jetsons.

Other options for the tripod surfaces include a Wazebo–a Gazebo on water– roofed with solar panels or an Infinity Jacuzzi with endless views. Keep in mind Ocean Builders identifies itself with pioneering, being unique, and smart first of all. To continue at the forefront, they are starting to develop stand-alone products, such as cutting-edge waste, energy, and water technologies that filter separately gray and black liquid residue, recycle 90%+ of the natural resource and direct them for reuse only where a mother would. For us who crave updates, the Facebook page has videos and pictures, even live feeds on the ground and right on the blue frontier may be accessed on the blog. Some houses will have projectors for owners who want to display their NFT art in the living room.

Grant told us the story when he first met the Seapod designer, Koen Olthuis from Water Studio. Waterstudio, as always, delivered and brought what makes them the most successful floating company in the world: scarless Developments.

Watch the entire interview here!