Spending time underwater soon won’t be something exclusive to scuba divers. While the idea of living underwater is far from new, technology and architecture training have greatly improved to meet the formidable challenges of submarine construction.
Imagine the possibility of vacationing underwater: celebrating a special occasion with your family, spending your honeymoon or enjoying a unique solo getaway. Well, architectural firms around the globe have plans to make the reality of this seeming sci-fi idea.
There are already several underwater structures that are successfully up & running today, but there are plans for things to come on a much larger scale. Let’s take a look at some existing examples as well as some ideas that are becoming a reality in the world of underwater architecture.
Restaurants: The Red Sea Star
There are very few places to dine-out where you can look out the window and potentially spot a passing school of colorful fish or even a hammerhead shark. The Red Sea Star in Eilat, Israel and the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant in the Maldives, however, offer this very experience.
The Red Sea Star was the world’s first underwater bar and dining establishment. Submerged six meters below sea level, the planning and design of the underwater structure lasted about 4 years – an interesting fact for anyone thinking about enrolling in CAD courses. The construction took another four years, during which time a coral nursery was cultivated in order to revive the underwater life that was previously thriving in the area. The location is also the world’s only night-time underwater observatory, which uses a combination of lights that won’t disturb the habitat of the reef.
Ithaa Undersea Restaurant
Five meters below sea level at the Hilton Maldives Resort and Spa, the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant is a mostly acrylic building that only seats 14 people. The structure gives visitors the opportunity to gaze at coral gardens and their inhabitants in a stunning 270-degree view. It was designed in New Zealand by a firm specializing in large aquarium works. It was then constructed and assembled in Singapore and shipped to the Maldives in a single, 275-ton piece on a barge whose voyage took 16 days. Upon arrival, the structure was lowered, stabilized with sand ballast and fixed into position.
Hotels: Water Discus
There are plans underway in Dubai to construct the world’s largest underwater luxury hotel, the Water Discus. Although there are currently no construction dates set, Polish design firm Deep Ocean Technology have come as far as 3D rendering the hotel’s design, and have teamed with major investment and construction firms to make their vision a reality.
This futuristic, disc-shaped hotel’s underwater portion will have 21 guest rooms, and sit about 10 meters below the waves. Plans also call for a diving center complete with a decompression chamber and airlocks, a spa, a garden, open terraces above water, and even a helipad on top of one of the surface discs for guests who will be arriving by air.
Utter Inn
On a much smaller scale, there already exists an underwater hotel on Sweden’s Lake Malaren that is accessible by boat – hopeful news if you’re interested in pursuing underwater structure design with your CAD diploma. Above water, the Utter Inn (yep, that translates to Otter) looks like a small traditional Swedish red house. Once inside, guests climb down a ladder to arrive in their small yet cozy underwater capsule room. Windows provide a view of underwater lake life and the owner will deliver dinner right to your door for an additional fee.
What type of underwater structures would you be interested in designing?
