Architecture afloat: a new design-led barge boat by Bert & May Spaces provides an alternative housing solution

Boat interior view
(Image credit: Press)

With London house prices soaring into the stratosphere, for many the notion of owning a property has become nothing more that a fanciful dream. As a result, demand for small but smartly designed affordable spaces is increasing. Hoping to cater to this underserved and growing market is a new alternative housing development spearheaded by the property arm of lifestyle brand Bert & May - 'Bert & May Spaces' - that is reinventing the traditional barge boat as a desirable, design-led living space.

'I was fed up, as many successful professionals like me are, not being able to afford a decent design led home in London,' explains Bert & May Group founder, Lee Thornley. 'Instead I was staying in hotels and commuting at weekends. With the canal running past Bert & May's showroom in Vyner Street, E2, it suddenly dawned on me that a barge could be the perfect solution.'

Made in the UK and designed in collaboration with RaT Architecture and design project manager Laura Fulmine, Barge No.1 is the first phase in a series of inventive and affordable living spaces that the Bert & May team have planned for London and the UK. 'I am now obsessed with the idea of providing unique homes on water and convinced the number of people living on water will rise dramatically over the next few years,' says Thornley. 'The more I look into it I can honestly say there's a growing water-based community in the UK.'

To launch its new floating venture, the Bethnal Green-based brand installed a 50ft wide beam barge in St John's Square, just behind the Zetter Hotel where they hosted talks and events during Clerkenwell Design Week. Decked out with thoughtfully-sourced fittings and furniture from brands such as Vanja Bazdulj and Stovax, luxury lighting from Atelier Areti and vintage pieces by Béton Brut, the one-bedroom barge feels surprisingly spacious. 'By using freestanding furniture I have allowed the barge to remain versatile,' says creative consultant and design project manager Laura Fulmine, who kept the Scandinavian-inspired interior as open-plan as possible. 'The pieces can then be adapted to suit the individuals living needs within a limited space.'

With a number of 'water agents' arranging moorings from Angel to Richmond, and a series of modular homes in the works (part of Bert & May's 'phase two') the capital's housing options just got more interesting.

bedroom on boat

Made in the UK, Barge No.1 was designed in collaboration with RaT Architecture and design project manager Laura Fulmine, who completed the interiors

(Image credit: TBC)

Boat interior view

Introduced to provide an alternative housing solution for Londoners priced out of the property market, Bert & May Group founder Lee Thornley believes that there is a growing water-based community in the UK

(Image credit: Press)

House on boat

To launch its new floating venture, the Bethnal Green-based company installed a 50ft wide beam barge in St John's Square, just behind the Zetter Hotel where they hosted talks and events during Clerkenwell Design Week

(Image credit: Press)

Boat interior view

The one-bedroomed, Scandinavian-inspired interior is decked out with fittings and furniture from brands such as Vanja Bazdulj and Stovax, luxury lighting from Atelier Areti and vintage pieces by Béton Brut

(Image credit: Press)

Kitchen view

Creative consultant and design project manager, Laura Fulmine explains, 'I have tried to keep the design of the barge as open plan as possible. By using freestanding furniture I have allowed the barge to remain versatile. The pieces can then be adapted to suit the individuals living needs within a limited space.'

(Image credit: Laura Fulmine)

Dining table view

Fulmine continues, 'Finding furnishings to fit wasn't that tricky as the boat is surprisingly spacious. The dining table and sofa were the only pieces that had to be of a certain size to fit within the spaces I had allocated for them.'

(Image credit: Laura Fulmine)

Sofaset and table lamp

The city barge is 14.63m long and 3.35m wide. It comes complete with a hidden foldaway double bed...

(Image credit: Press)

Terrace of the boat

...as well as a spacious rooftop terrace for entertaining

(Image credit: Press)

Bathroom inside the boat

With their roots in material sourcing and production, Bert & May's new property arm, Bert & May Spaces, combines the brand's interiors expertise with their experience in property development - their impressive portfolio includes overseas private residences, a luxury boutique hotel and projects with Soho House and the Cowshed Spa as well as Four Seasons Miami

(Image credit: Press)