You Can Rent This Floating Cabin That Cruises the Waterways of the Norwegian Wilderness
The tiny accommodation sluices old logging routes of the Halden Canal, letting visitors bask in the region’s beauty.
In the past few years, Oslo, Norway, has opened up a bevy of eye-catching institutions. Among them are the National Museum of Norway, the Munch Museum, and the Deichman Bjørvika, a public library, all of which are chock-full of cultural curios that make them worthy of a spot on even the shortest itineraries. For those planning a longer trip—or just strategizing a dedicated strike mission—plenty more has been unfolding beyond city limits, like remote hiking cabins, retreats perched above a fjord, and a restaurant that looks like it’s sinking into the ocean.
More recently, in a rural area about an hour outside of Oslo, a group of small municipalities is eager to share their slice of Norwegian wilderness and history with the world. Enter Flo, a rentable off-grid cabin floating on the Halden Canal, Norway’s oldest waterway. Together with the Halden Canal Regional Park, STRÅ cofounder Anders Byng Strøm and Laureen Putzolu of Studio OSMA designed the on-water accommodation to introduce newcomers to the area’s natural beauty and rich logging history.
"[The idea] was to use architecture as a way to reach out to more people, or perhaps a different segment," says Strøm, who grew up nearby. "There’s been a lot of treetop cabins and experiential architectural concepts done over the last few years, but this project was an opportunity to create a different overnight experience based more on the qualities of the region."
Despite the last timber being floated through the canal in 1982, the logging industry left an indelible mark on the area. For more than 600 years, the surrounding waterways were used for transporting logs. Built between 1852 and 1860, the Halden Canal played a critical role in the trade. Its restoration in recent years allows visitors to journey across the watercourse, traversing three locks and five lakes. Like the timber before it, the cabin’s 322-square-foot plan is designed to be sluiced through the locks and moved around the waterways.
Located in southeastern Norway, the Halden Canal Regional Park where the cabin floats was established in 2012 to enhance and promote the long-term development of the surrounding towns, which include Marker, Aremark, Halden, and Aurskog-Høland. The canal lies at the heart of the region and now acts as a venue for a range of outdoor and cultural activities; over the past decade, the Halden Canal Regional Park has overseen 14 projects with these aims.
See the full story on Dwell.com: You Can Rent This Floating Cabin That Cruises the Waterways of the Norwegian Wilderness
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