Exbury Egg: Amazing Self-Sustaining Floating Office Launches in the UK

  the exbury egg - images courtesy of nigel ridgen

 

 

 

Two years ago, a group of architects, artists and engineers announced plans to create a floating egg-shaped room to be occupied by artist Stephen Turner. Last month, the fruit of their labor was realized as the Exbury Egg, an energy-efficient, self-sustaining pod was launched in an estuary of the River Beaulieu in the UK. Turner will live in the egg for 12 months while he uses the space to study the life of a tidal creek and the ways in which humans interact with nature.

the exbury egg is a self-sustaining work space that is the result of a collaboration between PAD studio, the SPUD group and artist stephen turner, who will work from vessel for the next year.

located in in the estuary of the river beaulieu UK, the egg is a place to stay and a laboratory for studying the life of a tidal creek, a collecting and collating centre with integral storage & display areas.

the structure built using boat building techniques and local materials features a bed, a desk, a small stove, and a wet room. it will take on the patina of 730 daily tides below the water line, and 365 days of weathering by wind, rain and bleaching by the sun above.





the egg will be ‘tethered’ like a boat and will rise and fall with the tide. the light touch and basic nature of the 'exbury egg' aims to re-appraise the way we live; to properly consider sustainably and future use of natural resources. stephen turner is interested in exploring a more empathic relationship with nature which reveals the precious and transcendent in everyday life. the artwork created will stem from stephen’s occupation, developing through direct experience an understanding of local natural cycles and processes and the relationship of the environment to the narratives of human activity in the unending calendar of seasonal life.




the ‘exbury egg’ adopts the two key premises of 'lean, green and clean' and 'reduce, reuse and recycle'. the potential energy requirements during occupation were determined through exploring stephen’s anticipated daily routines, including a consideration of the variations that would result from seasonal differences. stephen’s requirements for electricity use including electricity for charging items such as a laptop, digital camera and mobile phone will be met using solar.































stephen turner
artist’s impression of the exbury egg exterior
watercolour on paper, january 2013
740mm x 1000mm
the watercolour was made by the artist from the western red cedar timber used in the actual egg construction.

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