A BUILDING AND USE THEREOF

Abstract: The invention relates to a building which has a floating hull (1) and in which there are premises (2) for restaurant, hotel or other tourist use. According to the invention, its hull (1) is navigable, which means that its upper part (4) above the waterline (3) is shiplike, e.g., like a luxury cruiser, whereas its lower part (5) below the waterline is flat and bargelike. The building with floating hull according to the invention can be transported by water for a desired period to places where there is seasonal demand for its services.

Description: A building and use thereof The object of the invention is a building with a floating hull, containing premises for restaurant, hotel and/or other tourist use. The invention also relates to the use of such building with floating hull. It is already known that different kinds of old discarded ships have been modified for restaurant or hotel use. It is often characteristic of these ships that the premises as such are not, without extensive modifications and costs, directly suitable for their new use and even after the modifications, they do not meet the modern requirements as to the hygiene and safety standards (e.g. operativeness of electrification, sewerage and air-conditioning; asbestos problems). The quality standard of such ships does not fulfill the wishes of a modern man, unlike if they originally were designed especially for said use. Several kinds of constructions built on floating platforms have been designed and even carried out, as can be seen for example from the German patent publication (DE 40 04 673 A 1) relating to a floating hotel or from the European patent publication (EP 0 082 034 Al) relating to a floating hospital. An example of a hotel built on a floating platform, also called as "floatel", is a floating hotel in Saigon, Vietnam. The above-described floating solutions are not, however, equally navigable, easily transportable nor safely towable. Neither ones of the above-mentioned solutions, discarded ships or floatels, have such an appearance that they would attract tourists or would otherwise beneficially contribute to the surrounding landscape with their appearance. The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the above- mentioned solutions and to provide a building with floating hull especially for restaurant, hotel and/or other tourist use, which floating building has low manufacturing costs and is useful for many purposes due to its transportability. The main characteristics of the invention are disclosed in the appended claims. The invention thus provides a building with floating hull for restaurant, hotel and/or other tourist use, the upper, above the waterline situated, navigable part of the hull of which building is shiplike, preferably having the shape of a modern yacht or a luxury cruiser, whereas its lower part under the waterline is flat and with shallow draught. This solution allows to bring hotel and other services to such tourismwise interesting areas near waterways to which it is not for some reason possible to build permanent constructions, for example for environmental protection reasons or due to the fact that the area is already so fully built that additional building is not possible, such as in town centers. The invention also allows to bring high quality tourist services to such areas with lower costs compared to other solutions. An additional benefit is that the construction of the building with floating hull according to the invention is not a strain on even the most sensitive nature on its final location because it is built on a shipyard wherefrom it is subsequently transported to its working environment. A tourist center can also temporally be more rapidly realized, since the construction time is shorter compared to conventional building on land. The building with floating hull according to the invention is suitable also to areas where there is not all-year demand for accomodation and restaurant services but only occasionally. It can be towed according to holiday seasons to areas where these kind of services are needed. Also fairs, different kind of world class sports events et cetera are occasions where the own accomodation capacity of the locality in question is not sufficient to meet the demand, and extra capacity is temporarily needed. If the area is by a river or a sea, a building with floating hull according to the invention can be towed there. Its use can be planned in advance so that it operates in a certain place for a certain period of time, as long as the the tourist or other season lasts, after which it is transported to the next place that is in advance reserved for it and that is built or designed especially in view of locating a vessel. Therefore, the building with floating hull according to the invention can have two or more regular harbour or mooring places in each of which hotel and restaurant business is carried on. Tourist business based on this kind of transportable hotel system can thus be permanently carried on. As special attention is paid to esthetic values and the appearance of the ship when designing the building with floating hull according to the invention, it is a favourable surplus to any harbour or sea environment due to its marine appearance. This means also a whole new product in the field of marine industry and creates for the shipyards a possibility to turn to new lines of production. Even though the building with floating hull according to the invention can be built without an engine and transmission means, it is evident that, if need be, it can be equipped with them, as well as with navigation devices. Due to its shiplikeness, the building with floating hull according to the invention is navigable and therefore registrable. It can thus be easily moved for a required period by water to a place where there is demand for its services. It can also be a replica, i.e. remind an old well-known ship, either in natural size or on a different scale. The building with floating hull according to the invention advantageously looks like a luxury cruiser above its waterline offering, besides the luxury cruiser look, also the corresponding accomodation and service quality without having the costs of a similar cruiser. The fact that no engine or navigation devices, or no accomodation premises for the crew, are needed, allows savings in realization costs compared to a corresponding luxury yacht. Not even a proper crew is needed, and the staff can be local. Compared to a proper ship, the construction is less expensive also because the weight of the ship and the shape of its bottom do not have to be considered in construction beacause the floating building is not in traffic use. It would be even economically unprofitable to use a functioning ship that is intended for sea-traffic to a corresponding purpose. Furthermore, the building with floating hull according to the invention, as it has considerably more shallow draught compared to a cruiser of similar size, can be located to areas which a conventional vessel cannot reach due to the shallowness of the water. Compared to an ordinary ship, it is also a safer way to take lodging on water because in rescue situations, in addition to the safety arrangements of the ships, also the fire and rescue services on land can be used, if the ship is anchored or otherwise moored to the shore. The building with floating hull according to the invention can be realized so that it is permanently anchored or moored to the shore, in which case the energy supply and other maintenance services are carried out for example through fixed sewerage and electricity connections so that sources of energy or big water tanks are not needed on the ship itself. Another option is to equip it with complete apparatuses for energy and water supply and waste management, which make it independent of its location. These systems are however realized so that the waters are not polluted from the condensation waters, oil emissions or other pollutants. The invention is described in further detail below with reference to the enclosed drawing in which Fig. 1 shows a building with floating hull according to the invention from the side and Fig. 2 the same building partly cut away. In the drawing, the floating hull of the building is generally designated with reference numeral 1 and the premises therein for restaurant, hotel or other tourist use with reference numeral 2. The Figures show that the upper part 4 of the navigable hull 1 above the waterline 3 resembles a luxury cruiser whereas the lower part 5 below the waterline is flat and with shallow draught, i.e. the ship's bottom does not narrow down but instead sharply turns flat-bottomed, which allows to attain high tonnage and yet shallow draught. The building with floating hull can additionally be equipped with own engine 6 and transmission means 7 in order to transport it by water for a required period to a place where there is demand for the services it offers. The solution according to the invention allows to provide luxurious hotel and restaurant services with lesser realization expenses, compared e.g to a cruise liner, to touristically interesting seaside areas to which it is uneconomical to build or to which it, for some reason, is not possible to build, like for example to town centers or to places where the demand for hotel services is occasionally bigger than normal, such as in connection with fairs, sports events or the like, in which case they are transported seasonally according to an advance plan for a certain period from one especially for them built terminal or mooring place to another.

Claims: Claims 1. Building which has a floating hull (1) and in which there are premises (2) for restaurant, hotel and/or other tourist use, characterized in that the hull (1) is navigable and its upper part (4) above the waterline (3) is shiplike, whereas its lower part (5) below the waterline (3) is flat and with shallow draught. 2. Building according to the claim 1, characterized by engine (6) and transmission means (7) to transport the ship on its own from one place to another. 3. Building according to claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the upper part (4) of the hull (1) above the waterline (3) has the shape of a modern yacht or a luxury cruiser. 4. Use of such building as a hotel and/or a restaurant, in which building the upper part (4) of the floating, navigable hull (1) above the waterline (3) is shiplike and the lower part (5) is flat and with shallow draught, characterized in that it is transported by water for a required period to a place where there is demand for the services it offers.

Inventors: NIEMI PEKKA, NIEMI, PEKKA
Applicants: KUNTOUTUSYHTYMAE REHAB GROUP O, NIEMI PEKKA, KUNTOUTUSYHTYMAE - REHAB GROUP OY, NIEMI, PEKKA
Application year: 1998
Main classification: B63B35
IPC codes: B63B1, B63B35