Floating cabin first for Aussie RV industry

The clever minds behind Australia's first 'floating' caravan park cabin, want to encourage other accommodation providers located in flood-prone areas to install similar 'flood-proof' amphibious dwellings.

Described as a 'pioneering project', the unique flood-resilient cabin was installed at Dunbogan Caravan Park on NSW's mid-north coast earlier this year, after a lengthy three-year process that began after the park experienced severe flooding in 2021 that adversely affected many of its longer-term residents who rely on the park for affordable housing.

The difficulties of the ensuing clean-up and repairs drove the owner/operators of Dunbogan Park, Cicely Sylow and Stephen Ritchie (who also run the nearby Diamond Waters Caravan Park under the family-owned Ritchie Villages company), to reconsider the flood resilience of the park's older-style cabins and homes and come up with a new, more modern and future-proof design.

The pair turned to Queensland-based architects JDA Co which specialises in flood-resilient buildings, to help come up with the design for a new 'floating' park cabin, with engineers, the local council, a prefab builder and pontoon manufacturer also helping bring the forward-thinking project to life.

While it looks like a traditional caravan park fixed accommodation unit, the amphibious cabin is designed to rise with the flood waters and is mounted on a pontoon base with guide piles to prevent it from swaying during flotation. Residents will still need to evacuate in severe floods, but it should allow them to return within days rather than months or even years, with minimal impact on the structure and their possessions.

"This cabin can automatically rise to RL4.12m AHD which is the height required by our development consent (the rise from ground level is 3.12m).  This level includes the climate change and relevant freeboard allowance of 500mm," Cicely Sylow said.

"The dwelling is connected to a pontoon and therefore will rise with the pontoon so the actual cabin structure is not waterproof," she explained. "We do however have other cabins in our caravan park that have been built using flood resilient materials. 

"This means that should a flood inundate these cabins, we will be able to hose out the cabins without having to remove the walls and floors like we did in 2021.  While this significantly reduces the waste and time related to returning those cabins to use, our preference is overwhelmingly to install an amphibious cabin so no water enters the dwelling in the first place."

According to JDA Co., the prototype housing solution "aims to safeguard its residents' property and provide a solution for others facing similar challenges in flood-prone areas where merely raising structures above potential flood levels is not a viable solution".

The Dunbogan Caravan Park, industry-first initiative was recognised earlier this year at the Caravan Industry Association of Australia's 2024 National Conference, with the Gerry Ryan OAM Innovation Award, while Ritchie Villages has also been selected as a finalist in the 2024 North Coast Tourism Awards for its innovative amphibious cabin.

Sylow said she hopes the project will encourage more development of amphibious dwellings around Australia, particularly in regions that are flood prone.

"Globally communities are needing to work out how to respond to the increased intensity of climate, like flooding, on our lives and livelihoods, and this design is a very viable option,” she told Accom News.

“We are continuing to work with insurers, various local councils and state government to drive change in this area and warmly welcome contact from people interested in this design and who wish to consider options for their communities and how we can help them achieve their goals,” she said.

Meanwhile, the first floating cabin was recently furnished and will now be available for holiday bookings, and there are plans to build more at the park, funds permitting.

"We have a number of vacant sites available to install more dwellings," Sylow said. "The plan for the next cabin is to focus on a truly accessible design (ie ramp access)."