You yearn for the sea life, but life on ship might not be exactly what you want. Then why not create your own country on an abandoned sea fort or oil rig? That's what these people have done.


Spitbank Fort and No Man's Land Fort in Portsmouth Harbour, turned into luxury hotels


These mid-19th century Solent forts protected a British naval base against Napoleon III's Navy. The Spitbank was decommissioned in 1982 and has been in the hands of private owners until 2010, when the current owners bought it.

Now, three years later it has eight suits, an outdoor heated pool, a rooftop champagne bar, a spa and a recreation room.



The No Man's Land Fort (featured in a Jon Pertwee-era Doctor Who episode with Sea Devils in 1972) was a hotel for ten years, but it has been closed in 2004 (Legionella bacteria found in the hotel's water system) and sold four time since then. Now it's still under development. It will have 27 bedrooms.



(via io9 and Spitbank Fort)


A micronation on HM Fort Roughs, a WWII installation to guard the port of Harwich, Essex, designed by Guy Maunsell: The Principality of Sealand, six miles from the coast of Suffolk and eight from Essex.


Since 1967 it has been occupied by a British pirate radio broadcaster, Paddy Roy Bates (Prince Roy) and his family. Bates established Sealand in 1975, and he was the leader until his death in 2012. He was succeeded by his son Michael. More information about Sealand is available here.


You can become a Lord, Lady, Baron, or Baroness for only 50-80 USD, but for 310 USD you could be a Count or Countess. Not a bad idea!

(via Ryan Lackey 1 – 2)

Seaventures Dive Resort, converted from an old oil rig, near Sipadan, Malaysia


The rig was bought in 1988 and towed into its actual location. Now, after the renovation it's a 25 room hotel.


(via Inhabitat)

Frying Pan Shoals Light Station, a 85 ft high platform in the Atlantic Ocean


A software salesman, Richard Neal paid 85,000 USD on the station in 2010, and 100,000 more to repair everything, but now it can house eight people.


(via Frying Pan Tower/Facebook)

There are 4,000 oil rigs in the Gulf Of Mexico that will be decommissioned in the next few decades. But what if we convert them into luxury hotels?


Potentially 80 million square feet of programmable space just off the coast of the United States? Could the Gulf be America's "Dubai"? These rigs could be eco-friendly and also be fitted with solar panels, wind turbines and underwater turbines.


(via Advance Design At Morris)

Abandoned Oil Rigs into Habitable structures, by Ku Yee Kee and Hor Sue-Wern from Malaysia, finalists of the 2011 eVolo Skyscraper Competition

"Solar energy will be harvested with a large photovoltaic membrane located on the roof while wind turbines will be located at strategic places along the four facades and tidal energy collectors at the bottom."



(via io9 and eVolo)


Bonus: Houseboat from a lifeboat of the Murdoch North Sea oil platform


The owner, Jeff Doyle bought it on the Internet in 2011 and now it's in Bath Marina in Bath, Somerset, UK.


Now it has a wood burning stove, minimalistic furnitures and a kitchen next to the steering wheel.


(via Daily Mail)

Double bonus: Orange oil rig escape pods as hotel rooms, by the Dutch alternative architect Denis Oudendijk, now in Den Haag, Netherlands


(via Inhabitat)