Forget Houseboats: Cape Town gets Africa's First Floating Luxury Apartments

Floating palaces are nothing new in Cape Town, which sees regular superyacht visits to local ports. Floating luxury apartments, however, are a fresh addition to the marine world courtesy of local naval architects KND Naval Design.

The first EvFloat ‘luxury marina residence and apartment’ launched earlier this month at the V&A marina, marking the culmination of a years-long project involving multiple boatbuilding stakeholders.

The houseboat concept is a direct response to growing demand for premium marina and waterfront living, both in South Africa and internationally. “This is more than a houseboat,” KND shared in a recent project update. “A fully designed and fabricated South African product, built to create a premium floating residence experience in world-class marina locations. Our vision is to roll out a number of EvFloat units across South Africa first, and then expand into selected locations across Africa.”

Luxury vessels are likely to become increasingly visible in local waters, particularly in Cape Town where the V&A Waterfront is developing a R230-million Superyacht Marina at Quay 7. The site will double as a commissioning area for local boatbuilding yards during the superyacht off-season.

Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town is actively investing in the ocean economy via non-profit company BlueCape, which provides strategic support to marine sector stakeholders. To celebrate the launch, KND posted photos of the inaugural EvFloat and marked the occasion with a sundowner event at the marina.